BRUSSELS – NATO’s military committee chief said defense heads of membernations discussed the progress being made by the Afghan forces and the needfor ongoing support.
Continued change in Afghanistan was highlighted during discussions at NATOMilitary Committee Meeting in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to the US Department of Defense, Czech Gen. Petr Pavel, thechairman of NATO’s Military Committee, said the chiefs – including partnernations – also received briefings from the commander of the alliance’sResolute Support mission in Afghanistan.
Much has changed in the nation over the past year, he noted – the UnitedStates put its South Asia Strategy into place, and the alliance agreed to alarger train-and-assist effort in Afghanistan.
“We discussed the strategic, operational and political context in andaround Afghanistan, as well as our main effort to train, assist and advisethe Afghan security forces and institutions,” Pavel said, adding that allof the chiefs stressed the enduring nature of the mission in Afghanistanand recognized the progress being made by Afghan security forces.
In addition to discussions on Afghanistan the NATO defense chiefs spokeabout other challenges including those involving Syria and Iraq and Ukraine.
Pavel said they also recognized the progress achieved by the AfghanNational Defense and Security Forces over the course of last year, inparticular the growth of the Afghan Special Security Forces and the AfghanAir Force, improved leadership and the Afghan forces’ growing confidence intheir ability to fight and win.
During their session with Georgia, the Chiefs of Defense recognizedGeorgia’s significant and enduring contribution to NATO operations andmissions, and especially to Resolute Support in Afghanistan, Pavel saidadding that they stressed their continued support to the SubstantialNATO-Georgia Package and welcomed Georgia’s constructive approach to theongoing security situation.
“I cannot comment, obviously, on bilateral issues between United States andPakistan but we are trying to influence all regional actors to coordinateactivities towards better security and stability of Afghanistan. We had arepresentative of Pakistan at our meeting focused on stability.
They were contributing in a constructive way and I truly believe thatPakistani Authorities are taking steps to address terrorism. However, thereis still room for improvement and we are working on it.
It is one of the major tasks for Commander Resolute Support Mission as welland he is working with all the actors that have influence on security inAfghanistan,” he said.