THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 31 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State of Secretary Hillary Clinton said here Tuesday that the international conference on Afghanistan is "critical" to pushing forward the efforts in Afghanistan.

    "This conference is critical to our way forward," she said after arriving for the one-day conference, which attracts officials and representatives of more than 80 nations and organizations.

    Clinton praised the role the Netherlands has played in peacekeeping in war-torn Afghanistan, saying that "at the center of our effort" in Afghanistan was the "courageous military commitment the Dutch people and their government have made."

    The Netherlands has some 1,700 troops deployed in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, one of the volatile regions where the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confronts the Taliban directly.

    The Dutch mission was originally planned to end in August 2008 but has been extended to the end of 2010.

    About half Dutch people oppose the troops staying in Uruzgan after 2010 and Dutch Defense Ministry faces thousands of vacancies and financial shortfalls, partly due to the rapid wearing out of materiel in Uruzgan.

    But the government has left open the possibility of the Netherlands maintaining a military presence in Afghanistan.

    Clinton, who called the conference to drum up support for the U.S. government's new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, announced on her way to The Hague her country's pledge of 40 million U.S. dollars for key elections in Afghanistan in August.

    The European Commission said it was ready to commit an additional 60 million euros (80 million dollars) in aid to support the elections, as well as the police and the farm sector in Afghanistan.

    The high-level conference on Afghanistan aims at injecting new vigor into common efforts to strengthen cooperation in support of the Afghan people.

    It focuses in particular on the upcoming elections, governance and institution building as well as setting priorities for economic development.

    The conference examines aid effectiveness and Afghanistan's political and economic reform agenda as well.

    UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, among others, will attend the meeting.