Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith revealed on Friday there were no immediate plans to commit additional troops to Afghanistan, reported Xinhua.
Australia had responded to a recent U.S. review of the security situation and a request from the Obama administration for extra forces ahead of the Afghan election on August 20, Smith said.
The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, was reviewing the state of American and coalition forces after the election to assess force allocations.
"But from our perspective, we are substantially the largest non- NATO contributor," Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio, adding that it was in Australia's national interest to have forces in Afghanistan. There are now 1,550 Australian troops in Afghanistan, including 120 deployed recently to provide extra security for the election. Two additional training teams will be deployed later this year.
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