Tweet
The leading Afghan Presidential candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani renewed his commitment to sign the bilateral security agreement between Kabul and Washington in a bid to pave the way for the presence of coalition forces in the country beyond 2014.
While speaking during an interview with the CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Dr. Ahmadzai said, “My commitment is to sign the agreement so that the intentional forces that are needed to support the building, equipping and training of Afghan security forces are in place.”
Ahmadzai further added that the he would find the instrument to guarantee the sovereignty of Afghanistan.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai has refused to sign the bilateral security agreement between Kabul and Washington despite the draft security pact was approved during the consultative Loya Jirga last year.
The signing of bilateral security agreement between Kabul and Washington will also pave the way for the signing of a similar pact between Afghan government and NATO which will give a legal framework for the presence of NATO forces to implement the Resolute Support mission that will focus on training and advice of the Afghan national security forces beyond 2014.
In the meantime, Ashraf Ghani vowed to change the regional role of Afghanistan from rivalry to cooperation. “There is no competitive advantage in the game of nations,” he said.
Ahmadzai also vowed to step up fight against corruption and beef up security and economy of Afghanistan.
Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is the former World Bank official. He has served as finance minister of Afghanistan and chief of the security transition commission, after he returned to Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Comment