Britain, Afghanistan sign partnership agreement
January 29th, 2012 - 8:15 am ICT by IANS
London, Jan 29 (IANS) Visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai and British Prime Minister David Cameron have signed a long-term partnership agreement Saturday.
They signed the Enduring Strategic Partnership agreement in Buckinghamshire Saturday.
“Britain has paid a very heavy price fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan,” Cameron told reporters at Chequers, his official country residence.
He said the British troops are making progress in Afghanistan and Britain wants to have “a long-term relationship with Afghanistan long after our combat troops have come home and that will happen at the end of 2014″.
“That will be a relationship about diplomacy, about aid, about trade, about investment and about very strong two-way diplomatic ties and conversations like we’ve been having today,” Xinhua quoted Cameron as saying.
President Karzai, his second visit to Britain, said the agreement is one more step towards the commitment of the Britain towards Afghanistan and into the long-term.
It will also “take us into a future where Afghanistan will benefit from the assistance and cooperation and help of Britain,” he said.
Cameron has committed to pull out the British troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the same time when the NATO mission in the country is due to end.
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- Eight die in Kabul attack after Obama trip (Second Lead) - May 02, 2012
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- Germany to give $190 mn to Afghanistan after 2014 - May 17, 2012
- US Vice-President Biden in Afghanistan on two-day visit - Jan 11, 2011
- Afghan house ratifies strategic pact with US - May 26, 2012
- NATO for phased transfer of security responsibility to Afghans by 2014 - Nov 21, 2010
- Pakistan's discomfort with India makes Afghan accord hard: US - May 02, 2012
- Gilani urges Karzai to dump US, team up with Pakistan, China: Report - Apr 27, 2011
- Cameron visits British troops in Afghanistan - Dec 20, 2011
- Obama, Karzai speak on strategic issues - Feb 21, 2012
- India, US commit to Afghanistan's future - May 08, 2012
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