KABUL - Afghan foreign affairs ministry officials on Sunday announced that the Afghan and US officials are due to start formal talks on Security Pact between the two nations on coming Thursday in capital Kabul.
Janan Mosazai spokesman for the Afghan affairs ministry said the delegation holding talks on security pact includes Afghan ambassador in Washington from the Afghanistan side and US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan will attend the meeting from the US side.
The Afghan officials will strictly consider national sovereignty, stability in the country and improvement of democracy along with the improvement of the Afghan security forces capabilities during their meeting with US officials, foreign affairs ministry officials said.
Foreign affairs ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said the delegation from the Afghanistan side will include representative from various organizations including Afghan defense ministry to discuss security pact with Washington.
He said, "A separate security pact between the two nations was one of the main issue which has been considered in long term strategic pact between Kabul and Washington. The security pact will clarify the limits, frame work and presence of US troops along with military cooperation's between the two nations beyond 2014. Formal talks in this regard will start between the officials from the two countries on 15 November."
This comes as the Afghan parliament house speaker on Saturday said the Afghan delegation are not professional enough to attend security pact talks with the US officials.
Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi urged the Afghan government to replace Afghan ambassador in Washington with an appropriate individual to attend the talks.
A number of Afghan lawmakers also accused Afghan ambassador to Washington in corruption but the Afghan foreign ministry spokesman denied the reports and said Afghan ambassador in Washington is an experienced diplomat and is committed to the national interest of Afghanistan.
He said, "There are a number of reasons behind the selection of Iklil Hakimi as the head of the Afghan delegation to discuss security pact. President Karzai elected him as he is a trustworthy diplomat and is committed to the national interest of Afghanistan besides he is a talented and experienced Afghan diplomat."
Mr. Mosazai also urged the Afghan lawmakers not accuse the Afghan diplomats based on the information which are not true.
According to reports one of the main conditions of the Washington to sign security pact with Afghanistan is to allow US troops presence in the country beyond 2014 but there are also concerns regarding the legal immunity of US troops in Afghanistan.
Afghan government has emphasized to try US troops inside Afghanistan who commit any crime in the country however US officials have not agreed with the demand of the Afghan government so far. (KP)