Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of US Forces in Afghanistan on Saturday commended the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces for their role in the recent elections and said that these forces are developing well and are upgraded.
Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of NATO’s Defense Ministers’Meeting in Brussel, the top US general in Afghanistan said that all NATO nations are fully committed to their partnership with Afghanistan.
“(I) took out a couple of key narratives from all the nations present, and first was a commitment of the NATO nations and partners to the ongoing Resolute Support Mission. I also heard a lot of discussion on the peace process, the desire for peace process,” said Miller.
“Afghan security forces are particularly well and upgraded, I talked about that often —we have a very clear example with the recent election,” said Miller.
Meanwhile, NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Nicolas Kay also said that the alliance hopes that the peace talks are resumed between the US and the Taliban to help find a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan.
“NATO supported Ambassador Khalilzad’s efforts to reach an agreement with the Taliban. We have also welcomed an early resumption of those talks. We at NATO are absolutely determined that Afghans enjoy peace and security— and reducing violence is essential,” said Nicolas Kay, NATO’s civilian representative in Afghanistan.
On Friday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also reaffirmed the alliance’s longstanding financial and advisory cooperation to the Afghan security forces and the peace process.
“NATO remains committed. And we continue to support the Afghan security forces with training and funding. This helps make the Afghan forces stronger, so they can fight international terrorism and create the conditions for peace,” said Stoltenberg.
“We also discussed prospects for the peace process in Afghanistan. NATO supported the peace talks earlier this year. And I would welcome them being resumed. But in order to make that possible, the Taliban need to demonstrate real willingness to make real compromises. To reach a credible peace deal,” he said.
Afghan political leadership had also stressed the need for peace in Afghanistan
President Ghani met separately with Pakistan President Arif Alvi and Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu Vice President of India at the 18th Summit of the Heads of State and Governments of the Non-Aligned Movement and discussed peace and bilateral relations, the president’s office said Saturday.
Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Friday, in an interview with CNN, stressed the need for a wider delegation to negotiate with the Taliban.
“There has been a pause in the talks and there have been efforts underway recently among the allies and partners of Afghanistan … we believe that the delegation should be inclusive not only with the government but the other political parties and political leaders and different walks of life should be represented in that delegation,” Abdullah told CNN.
