NATO military chief in Canberra for talks

A top NATO military chief can't see an end date to operations in Afghanistan on the horizon.

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel is in Canberra for talks with Australia's Defence Force Chief Mark Binskin this week.

The Turnbull government recently made a modest boost to Australia's military contribution in Afghanistan - an advisory and mentoring role - at the request of NATO.

This brought Australia's total deployment to 300 defence personnel up by 30.

General Pavel said NATO was doing its best to align military and financial support with the Afghanistan government's next four-year plan.

"We have to take a long-term approach," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

"The scope, duration of the mission has not been set, we talk about (a) conditions-based approach."

NATO countries including the US are still considering adjustments to their own military commitments.

General Pavel said as well as discussing Afghanistan, the purpose of his visit was to also better understand regional issues such as the South China Sea dispute.