Transfer of power to Afghanistan will not be driven by a calendar but by conditions, said Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Anders Fogh Rasmussen here on Wednesday; a day after the international community endorsed Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's proposal for complete withdrawal of international troops by 2014-end.
Briefing the media here, Mr. Rasmussen described NATO's commitment to Afghanistan as an enduring one. “We won't leave Afghanistan prematurely; we will leave only when conditions permit,'' he said in his opening remarks at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Asked if his assertion that NATO's pull-out would be determined by conditions and not calendars was in contradiction of what was decided at the Kabul Conference on Tuesday, Mr. Rasmussen elaborated: “We have submitted to the ambitions expressed by President Karzai that Afghan troops can take over by 2014. We hope that will be the case but we all know that we cannot leave Afghanistan prematurely because then the Taliban will return to the country and create a safe haven for itself once again.''
On the prospects of the reconciliation efforts, he said while he could not speculate about its success, he was certain that it should be Afghan-led. “We must give reconciliation a chance,'' he said; adding that those who were willing to lay down arms and abide by the Afghan Constitution and women's rights were welcome to avail this opportunity to join the war-ravaged country's mainstream.
As to whether reconciliation was being offered to the militants as a “bribe'' since the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force had failed to eliminate them, Mr. Rasmussen countered: “it is not bribery'' but an attempt to provide them an opportunity to lead an honourable life.
Speaking about the role Pakistan proposed to play in the reconciliation effort, Mr. Qureshi was categorical in stating that Islamabad “is not looking for a role or volunteering for a role''. Maintaining that the process should be Afghan-led, he added that if the Afghanistan Government sought Pakistan's help, then “we are willing to help''.
On his first visit to Pakistan after taking over as NATO Secretary-General in August 2009, Mr. Rasmussen sought greater political and military cooperation with Islamabad. “We consider Pakistan an important player in this region and we appreciate what Pakistan has done to promote regional stability and security.'' In particular, he was appreciative of the operations carried out by Pakistan against terrorists in the tribal belt of the country adjoining Afghanistan.
