KABUL - Afghanistan and Croatia signed strategic cooperation agreement following a two-day NATO summit in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, the Presidential Palace in Kabul said on Sunday.
A statement Pajhwok Afghan News received from the palace said President Ashraf Ghani and his Croatian counterpart, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, signed the agreement on Saturday in Warsaw after the NATO summit had ended.
President Ghani and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah returned to Afghanistan after attending the NATO summit in Poland, the statement said.
It Afghan and Croatian leaders also discussed bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries after signing the agreement.
“The agreement would help us to accelerate cooperation between the two countries,” the statement quoted Ghani as saying.
Ghani thanked Croatia for its cooperation with Afghanistan over the past 15 years and said the Afghan government would learn from experiences of Croatia, particularly in education and tourism sectors.
The statement quoted Croatian president as saying: “We are proud of standing with our Afghan sisters and brothers.”
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said her country’s troops would stay in Afghanistan and would serve under the Resolute Support (RS) mission.
In addition to training Afghan diplomats, a program already underway, Croatia would also find ways how to support Afghanistan’s education sector and invest in the area, she added
The statement said President Ghani also met with British Prime Minister David Cameron on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
Both sides exchanged views about security, peace process, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and some other issues during the meeting, the statement said, adding CEO Abdullah also participated in the meeting.
Cameron assured Ghani that country would leave 450 soldiers in Afghanistan and would increase their number to 500 until the end of current year in order to train Afghan forces.
The British prime minister said his country would continue financially supporting Afghan forces through 2020.
He said the world knew Afghanistan had made enough efforts to bring peace, but there had been a negative response from the Taliban.
Cameron also announced his country’s support for the Afghan-led peace process and better relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

CEO Abdullah said Pakistan should take decisive measures for fighting terrorist groups and work with the Afghan government to resolve their differences.(Pajhwok)