New York/New Delhi, Sep 23 - With the results of the Afghan elections still uncertain, India has pitched in for a 'political settlement' by the Afghan people in the war-ravaged nation and warned about the continuing links between Pakistani spy agency ISI and the Afghan Taliban.

India's growing influence in Afghanistan, however, came in for a close scrutiny from General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan, who cautioned in an internal report to Pentagon that it cold 'exacerbate' regional tensions and encourage Pakistani 'counter-measures' in Afghanistan or India.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna warned against external interference in Afghanistan's political process and pitched for a political settlement.

'India doesn't believe that war could be a solution for solving any problem and it applies to Afghanistan also. I think there could be a political settlement. I think we should strive towards a political settlement,' Krishna said in the interview.

'India is an optimistic nation. We believe a solution can be found,' he said.

'If there are internal differences within Afghanistan I think the people of Afghanistan, the leaders of Afghanistan will sort it out by themselves,' Krishna maintained.

'Afghanistan as a nation has to grow. They have come through a process of holding elections. I think giving democracy a try, they have succeeded. I think we should support them,' he added.

Krishna, however, did not explain the contours of the political settlement amid speculation about the US' keenness to do a deal with the so-called moderate Taliban to co-opt them into the political mainstream.

'Our stand on the Taliban remains unchanged. There is no good Taliban or bad Taliban just as there are no good or bad terrorists,' the minister contended.

Alluding to India's multifarious reconstruction activities in Afghanistan, Krishna said:'India's role in Afghanistan is to help them to stabilize on their infrastructure development. That's our immediate concern.'

India has pledged $1.2 billion for a host of reconstruction projects in Afghanistan ranging from roads and bridges to power transmission lines and grassroots training.

'That is the reason why we were asked to come to Afghanistan. We are building roads, we are building school buildings and we are building transmission lines,' Krishna said.

He, however, downplayed reports of electoral fraud in Afghanistan and pointed to the ambiguous verdict of US election in Florida in 2000.