NEW DELHI: While agreeing that Pakistan has raised concerns about India’s growing role in Afghanistan , the top commander overseeing American operations in the war-struck country has welcomed New Delhi’s participation in strengthening local forces.Saying that the US welcomes India’s role in boosting the Afghanistan military, US Commander General John Nicholson has said there is a large requirement that needs to be fulfilled, especially when it comes to spares for Russian equipment with Afghan forces “I can understand India has been calibrated because of this (Pakistan) concern. I can only answer this from a military perspective and there we welcome the role India has been playing, particularly in training thousands of Afghan soldiers,” said Nicholson, when asked about India’s role in the country.The US commander made a case for increased Indian assistance, particularly for the Afghan air force that consists of Russian origin aircraft.The General said that while the four Mi25 helicopters provided by India are of great help, the Afghan air force needs much more, pointing out that while there are several donors lined up to help Afghanistan, most of them have sanctions on Russia.The officer said a repair and overhaul facility for helicopters would be welcome in Afghanistan and given that many nations do not want their funds to be used for purchasing spares from Russia, India could be a good option to take on the work.Nicholson said Afghanistan needs more military aircraft to deal with the Taliban and other terrorist outfits such as the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad that are a threat to the entire region.The US Commander met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, among other Indian leaders, during his second visit to New Delhi.