Asia

Asia

NATO countries convene to discuss commitment to Afghanistan

21 May 2012 23:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Heads of state and government of NATO member countries on Monday began the second day of their summit here, with Afghanistan dominating the agenda, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

At the opening remarks of the session, U.S. President Barack Obama said the day’s discussions provided an opportunity to ensure hard-won progress in Afghanistan is not lost.

He said leaders could agree on NATO’s long-term relationship with Afghanistan and support for the country beyond 2014, by which time the alliance is set to hand over security responsibility to the Afghan side.

In his opening remarks, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said as Afghan forces take on security responsibility, NATO forces will step back into a supporting role, focusing on training, advising and assisting the Afghans.

Rasmussen said NATO commitment to Afghanistan is long-term.

"From 2015, we expect to maintain a NATO-led presence to train, advise, and assist the Afghan security forces. And NATO and ISAF nations will also pay their share to help sustain the army and police Afghanistan needs for the coming years," said Rasmussen.

NATO is focusing the second day of its summit on Afghanistan, but the alliance may not be able to fully coordinate a phased-out withdrawal, as newly elected French President Francois Hollande already indicated he will withdraw French forces by end of this year.