19. To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what objectives he has set for his Department’s policies on Afghanistan. (224432)

On 12 December 2007 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, in this House, set out the UK’s long-term and comprehensive framework for security, political, social and economic development for Afghanistan.

The key points are:

encouraging and supporting more Afghan ownership, including of the security effort supporting the Government of Afghanistan as they seek to build democracy and governance at local levels;

backing the Government of Afghanistan’s attempts to dismantle the insurgency through a politically led approach;

helping the Afghan Government meet the demands of the Afghan people by backing initiatives that encourage economic regeneration and social/economic development.

This strategy sets the strategic objectives for the Government as a whole, including my Department and remains viable today. It can be found on the Hansard website.

22. To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent progress the Afghanistan inter-departmental drugs unit has made; and if he will make a statement. (224436)

The Afghan Drugs Inter-departmental Unit (ADIDU) continues to take forward the UK's role as the designated G8 Partner Nation with Afghanistan on counter-narcotics. This includes work to support the Government of Afghanistan in implementing its National Drug Control Strategy. The approach of risk and reward is starting to deliver, with more targeted Afghan-led operations and record seizures of narcotics.