KABUL - As defence ministerial meeting in Brussels will take place on coming Wednesday, the ministers are expected to agree to task the military authorities to start planning for the future scope and size of the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in Afghanistan.

Christopher Chambers, civilian spokesman of the NATO senior civilian representative (SCR) to Afghanistan, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Sunday.

Maj. Gen. Daulat Waziri, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), told Pajhwok Afghan News that acting Minister of Defence, Masoom Stanakzai would represent Afghanistan at the ministerial.

Chambers said that the defence ministerial meeting in Brussels would take place over two days beginning on Wednesday, 24 June. The defence ministers will discuss a wide range of issues important to the alliance and its partners.

He said that Afghanistan would be discussed by ministers on the second day of the ministerial and in Resolute Support format – the 28 NATO allies and the 15 partner nations taking part in the Resolute Support Mission.

This will be the first ministerial in Resolute Support format since the launch of the Resolute Support Mission on 1 January, so will provide ministers and stakeholders with a chance to assess the progress of the mission after its first six months, he remarked.

It is expected that acting Minister of Defence, Masoom Stanakzai will represent Afghanistan at the ministerial. The RSM commander, John Campbell, and the NATO SCR, Ismail Aramaz, will both travel to Brussels to update the ministers, he concluded. (Pajhwok)