AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance can benefit from Columbia’s expertise in the Afghan peace process as the Latin American country became a new ally to the organization.
Addressing a press conference in Brussels, Stoltenberg said he appreciates what Columbia has achieved through peace process and the agreement that provided platform for the peace in Columbia.
“Today we discussed how to take our cooperation forward in the future. We agreed to work together in areas of mutual interest including cyber defense, demining and promoting the role of women in peace and security,” he said.
He said Columbia has unique skills to offer NATO including encountering improvised explosive devices.
“The alliance could also benefit from Colombia’s expertise with respect to the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. NATO is committed to working with partners like Columbia that share our values and interests,” Stoltenberg added.
The Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos said his country is ready to help NATO and other allies in Afghanistan.
This comes after NATO’s Resolute Support and US Forces Commander Gen. John Nicholson this week compared Afghanistan’s current situation with decades ago war in Columbia which began in the mid-1960s.
Columbia’s war was a low-intensity asymmetric war between Colombian governments, paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN), fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory.