Afghanistan

Azerbaijan and Afghanistan discussed the military and political situation in the region, as well as the security issues. Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov received a delegation led by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Zarar Ahmad Osmani on March 19.

President of Pakistan, Mamnoon Hussain, on Friday said that Pakistan would continue to support all efforts aimed at a peaceful, stable and united Afghanistan, said an official press release.

The Afghan and Pakistani leaders are expected to discuss security in Afghanistan after the NATO troop pullout and efforts to negotiate with the Taliban when they meet in Turkey on Thursday.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif left for Ankara on Wednesday on a three-day visit to Turkey to attend Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Summit, officials said. The trilateral process, an important platform for high-level dialogue, security cooperation, and economic development partnership, was launched in 2007.

The top commander of NATO in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford on Thursday declared Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) the best way to bring peace, stability and progress to Afghanistan and vanquish the war-torn country’s

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday appeared to give Afghan President Hamid Karzai extra time to sign a long-awaited bilateral security agreement, saying the deal did not have to be signed by January.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in India Thursday for a four-day visit, with Washington hoping New Delhi can persuade him to sign a deal allowing US troops to stay on post-2014. Karzai is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

NATO Foreign Ministers Wednesday called for a timely signature of the Bilateral Security Agreement between the United States and Afghanistan, which will pave the way for NATO to establish its own legal framework for its new mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces after 2014.

NATO Foreign Ministers Wednesday held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the framework of the NATO-Russia Council. “Russia and NATO both play a critical role in the security of the Euro-Atlantic region. And today’s meeting will enable us to maintain the momentum in

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security deal with the United States, the White House said, opening up the prospect of a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the strife-torn nation next year.