KABUL - Germany's Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, said that Pakistan had signaled it will support the peace process in Afghanistan.
"Pakistan made it very clear that it will continue to support the political process and the stability of Afghanistan." Mr Westerwelle said at a news conference in Bonn yesterday held with his Afghan counterpart, Zalmai Rassoul.

Delegates from more than 100 countries and international organizations gathered in the German city on Monday for a one-day conference to discuss Afghanistan's future after foreign combat troops withdraw by 2015.

Mr Rassoul said: "I am sure that our friends in Pakistan will be happy to see an Afghanistan which is driving towards a peaceful, stable and democratic country."
He added: "We regret, as my friend said, the absence of Pakistan at this conference but it has been a successful conference and I believe strongly that the result of this conference is also very positive [not only] for the future of our relations with Pakistan but also for the future of Pakistan."

At the gathering, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his vision for his country is one of peace, democracy and good relations with its neighbors and beyond - a vision US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said was ambitious but essential.

The Bonn conference took place exactly ten years after the first post-Taliban international meeting on Afghanistan in the same city. Mr Karzai thanked the international community for accompanying Afghanistan on this journey.

Here is what some other members of the international community said after the talks:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov called for good neighborliness with Afghanistan and asked for the country to remain neutral after international troops go home.

"Russia has made a considerable contribution to the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan," Mr Lavrov told Reuters. "We have written down, written off part of their debt. We have also helped in equipping the armed forces and the police and we have sent specialists in to train police officers. We support the national reconciliation process."

The UK also stressed its lasting commitment to Afghanistan.
British Foreign Minister William Hague told the news agency: "The United Kingdom will play its part over the coming years. The end of a combat role for British forces in Afghanistan by 2015 will not mark the end of our support to Afghanistan or to the Afghan National Security forces, or the importance we attach to wider security in the region."

NATO's Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan, Simon Gass, said that the country's security transition process had gone "rather well" so far but that the international community must help to support with development assistance after 2014.

He told Reuters TV: "We started the first areas that entered the transition process back in July and we have seen the handover to Afghan forces going pretty smoothly."