A senior US official has said that India has a crucial role to play in Afghanistan's success. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy said in a major policy speech on Indo-US defense relationship in Washington that India is an indispensable partner in addressing regional challenges. A top Pentagon official, Flournoy said that the US highly values the contribution and sacrifices of Indian citizens to the Afghan cause. She noted that India is playing a positive role in Afghanistan's economic and social development. She said that critics in Washington and New Delhi have suggested that the Obama Administration is not as committed to US-India relations as its predecessors were, and that it views India solely through the Af-Pak lens. She contended that such criticisms miss the mark completely. The official added that US-India relationship is not built on, and cannot be sustained on, grand gestures or brief moments of crisis, but on shared interests and values. She said India has long been a bellwether for the challenges and aspirations of a host of other nations inspired by its success, a fact that makes its success more important. India has provided development aid worth 1.2 billion US dollars to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime. But Pakistan, America's key ally in the war on terror, has been wary of India's involvement in Afghanistan.