LONDON, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is visiting Afghanistan and attending the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai as a witness to the new contract between President Karzai and the Afghan people, British Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.

    This is Miliband's fifth visit to Afghanistan as foreign secretary.

    Miliband said "I'm not here to applaud President Karzai. I'm here to engage with him and his key people and make sure they understand that there's a contract between the Afghan government and the international community that must be honored."

    The foreign secretary also welcomed Karzai's inauguration speech which said he "promised to learn from mistakes" and tackle corruption.

    Miliband said "I think the fact that there is plain speaking going on reflects the sort of engagement that's going on from the whole international community, 17 NATO foreign ministers are here including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov."

    "So this is a level of engagement that I think speaks to the seriousness of the situation, but it also speaks to the fact that people here believe that our greatest resource is the commitment of the Afghan people not to go backwards to the Taliban," he said.

    Miliband added that "The Afghan people don't want to go back, they want to see an Afghan government that governs in their own interest, and I think President Karzai is reflecting that."

    The Downing Street No. 10 also welcomed Karzai's inauguration, saying it "offers hope for the Afghan people."

    The statement said "We believe that Karzai set out today a clear commitment to deliver in the areas which British Prime Minister Gordon Brown highlighted as being crucial for the new government to tackle."

    According to the statement, there are very clear expectations of Karzai's second five-year term on the part of entire international community. Britain now wants to see Karzai deliver the expectations for all Afghans, and will work with him to ensure that he does.