While speaking at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Britain, Abdullah Abdullah, the Chief Executive of the Afghan government, affirmed that Afghanistan's relations with Pakistan would be essential in coming to a durable solution for peace with the Taliban.

Abdullah was in London this week in order to attend a conference regarding international support for Afghanistan, along with President Ashraf Ghani and a number of other top Afghan officials.

The Chief Executive acknowledged the challenges facing Afghanistan, but assured the crowd of cadets in London that the achievements of the past 13 years will not be lost and new opportunities will be harnessed.

One issue, as we say, Inshallah, is out of question, that the gains of the past 13 years will not be reversed, that is obvious, and the Taliban cannot take over, Abdullah said.

Abdullah said insecurity is the main challenge facing the national unity government and that Pakistan could be effective in bringing peace to the country if it wanted to do so. He said peace is a basic need of the country, but that it should not mean sacrificing the achievements of the past decade.

Governance, rule of law, delivery of services to the people and also supporting our national security institutions, are the priorities of the national unity government according to Abdullah.

The Chief Executive also praised the Afghan security forces for their efforts to promote security in the country and said that continued support from the international community is critical.