Warning the international community against underestimating the ferocity of Taliban and Al Qaeda [Images] resurgence in Afghanistan, India has favoured robust political solution and a strong domestic military response to meet the challenges of terrorism, including its nexus with drug trafficking.

As terrorism cannot be fought piecemeal, the international community must provide 'appropriate responses,' including security enforcement and economic and developmental strategies that rapidly bring the benefits of governance and development to people in the worst-affected districts, India's UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen told the Security Council.

Intervening in the discussion on situation in Afghanistan, Sen said the central task involves addressing, 'in the face of insecurity created by vicious terrorist violence,' the socio-economic challenges that are the result of decades of strife, destruction and privation.

The challenge before the international community, he said, is on the one hand to ensure security while helping resolve these problems, and on the other to transform the high-level political commitments into operational strategies and concrete outcomes on the ground.

"Only if we succeed in all three tasks can we create the conditions that engender greater national ownership of security, reconstruction and developmental processes in the long-term," Sen said, adding that it is an 'unavoidable reality' that it is only in the long-term that we can rebuild national institutions destroyed over the decades.

Sen said the collective goal must be to build upon the significant successes recorded so far and remain affected by short term developments while recognizing the fact that the road ahead is long.

"We must redouble our political and economic commitment to help Afghanistan over the medium to long term, and ensure that our determination is unshaken by short term developments," he emphasised.

With regard to addressing the developmental challenge, Sen said India believes that the good work being undertaken by the international community in Afghanistan can only be sustained in the long-term if it invests in developing Afghan human resources.

For this, a multi-pronged approach is required -- investing in rebuilding infrastructure, generating employment and progressively transferring the necessary skills and managerial authority to the Afghan people so that they can take on the ownership of these projects, he added.

Sen underlined India's 'unflinching' commitment to the rebuilding and development of Afghanistan.

The Indian assistance programme, which has been in place since the Berlin Conference, has now reached $750 million. Of this total pledge, India has already disbursed around $300 million in the implementation of various assistance projects since 2002, he told the delegates.

The projects cover the gamut of activities, ranging from capacity building projects to infrastructure creation and reconstruction.