Afghanistan's Minister of Defence will address his 50 counterparts from the Isaf partner countries later this week in Brussels to discuss the drawdown of the Nato-led combat mission.
Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, along with newly-appointed Isaf commander Gen Joseph Dunford and Nato Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) Maurits Jochems, will brief the 50 defence ministers on the latest situation in Afghanistan, the security transition, the sustaining of the Afghan National Security Forces, and on the plans for the new Nato training mission after 2014, according to Nato.
"These meetings are critical to get the updates, to hear from Afghanistan what support do you want, what equipment do you want," Nato SCR spokesman Dominic Medley said Monday at a press briefing in Kabul.
"We already know that Nato has committed to that new [training] mission after 2014. And it is important to hear from the Secretary General, from senior defence ministers, that Nato continues to remain committed to that mission. It's important for those ministers to hear from Afghanistan's Minister of Defence as to where he sees it going as well," he added.
The meeting will run Thursday and Friday but Afghanistan will only be discussed on the second day when Mohammadi is expected to address the Isaf partners.
Isaf spokesman Brig. Gen. Gunter Katz said that the meeting will help determine the training and equipment needs ANSF after 2014.
"It will be decided how we train the Afghan National Security Forces, how we can assist them, and the individual nations can talk to the Afghan government, how they can continue their support in terms of equipment so that this is a seamless process ," Katz said at the briefing.
Further to this meeting, the Isaf foreign ministers will meet in Brussels in a few months, Medley said.