US welcomes launch of 'Afghan Compact'

The United States has welcomed the launch of 'Afghan Compact', an initiative under which a decree has been signed by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, to facilitate cooperation between Kabul and Washington.
The move is also considered an important factor upon which the US relied when developing key components of the US South Asia Policy.
The decree was signed by Ghani in Kabul during the meeting of Bilateral Compact Executive Committee, known as Compact. It is an initiative to demonstrate the government's commitment to creating a peaceful, stable, and prosperous society.
"The development of the compact and its ultimate implementation was an important consideration in the development of the administration's new South Asia strategy," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference.

"Today's announcement demonstrates Afghans' renewed commitment to taking up its share of the burden. As President Trump has said, the United States remains committed to supporting Afghanistan, as long as they continue to make real reforms, show real progress, and produce real results," she said.
The Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah highlighted the fact earlier this week, when he said that nation building is a job for the Afghans themselves and not the United States or other countries.

"So we congratulate Afghanistan on that and look forward to any way that we can assist them," Nauert said.
According to State Department Spokesperson, the compact represents the Afghan Government's commitment to key reforms aimed at improving security and creating a more peaceful, stable, and prosperous society.

"We have long stressed and supported the Afghan Government's efforts to fight corruption and improve its governance, and the compact is an important new step in that effort," she said.
"The implementation of the new commitments, which include benchmarks in four key areas - governance, security, peace and reconciliation, and economics - they carry with them the opportunities to improve the delivery of government services, stem official corruption, and prepare for secure national elections in 2018.
"The benchmarks are tied to global standards of good governance put forward by the World Bank and other leading institutions," Nauert said.