| Date: 20/05/2012 Time: 11:03:00 PM |
US President Barack Obama met Afghan President
Hamid Karzai on the sidelines of the NATO summit here Sunday to discuss the
future role of NATO and the international community in the post-2014 period
after the withdrawal of NATO forces from the country.
"The NATO Summit is going to be largely devoted to ratifying and reflecting
the broad consensus that so many of our partners and ISAF members have agreed
to in which we are working with the Afghans over the next several years to
achieve a complete transition to Afghan lead for Afghan security," Obama told
reporters after the meeting.
"We are confident that we are on the right track, and what this NATO Summit
reflects is that the world is behind the strategy that we've laid out," he
added.
On his part, President Karzai, said "we have had a good meeting today in
which Afghanistan reaffirmed its commitment to the transition process and the
completion of withdrawal of our partners in 2014, so that Afghanistan is no
longer a burden on the shoulder of our friends in the international community,
on the shoulders of the United States and our other allies."
"But in the meantime, the world community, in particular the United States
and our allies in NATO and ISAF, will be with us to make sure that we take
steady and strong steps and are back while you are making those steps towards
2024, when Afghanistan will be largely defending itself and providing for
itself," he added. |