U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Saturday urged the international community to give more aid to Afghanistan to build infrastructure, expand its military and police, and ensure security for elections this year. "I know some in Asia have concluded that Afghanistan does not represent a strategic threat for their countries, owing in part to Afghanistan's geographic location," Gates told a meeting of defense ministers in Singapore. "But the threat from failed or failing states is international in scope -- whether in the security, economic or ideological realms." The United States leads a coalition of troops from more than 40 countries in Afghanistan and is in the midst of adding another 20,000 troops to the 38,000 already there to roll back gains by a resurgent Taliban.