By NNN-Bernama
Melbourne : Australia ’s Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says he is confident a new NATO strategic plan for Afghanistan will be achieved at a high-level meeting in Bucharest next week.
Fitzgibbon and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will attend a three-day meeting of representatives from each of the 26 NATO countries in Bucharest .
Australia , a non-NATO nation, has 1,000 troops serving in south-central Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Fitzgibbon said that Australia would be pushing for two things.
“The first is a new strategy for Afghanistan , a new road map to take us forward and ensure success,” he told ABC Radio.
“In particular, we want clear objectives and strategies and a proper marrying of both the military and non-military side of the equation.”
Australia also wants more troops committed to help resolve the conflict.
“It’s very clear that further progress can’t be made until we bolster troop numbers and we’re very, very keen for those under-committed NATO countries to do more,” he said.
Fitzgibbon said he was sure the meeting would make lasting changes to bolster Afghanistan .