Clinton, Karzai to discuss US troop strength in Afghanistan post 2014

Ahead of his meeting with his US counterpart Barack Obama, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to hold talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Leon Panetta during which he is expected to discuss the strength of the American forces in Afghanistan after 2014.

Karzai, who would be the first foreign leader to meet Obama in the New Year at the White House tomorrow, arrived in the US on Tuesday leading a high-power delegation comprising several Cabinet-level ministers.

“This visit, of course, provides an opportunity to discuss the ongoing transition to Afghan security lead and our enduring commitment to Afghanistan following completion of transition at the end of 2014,” Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

Clinton, who has already hosted a working lunch for Karzai at the State Department, is looking forward to her meeting with him this evening, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.

Karzai yesterday drove to the Capitol Hill for a meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators, including Mitch McConnell, Bob Casey, Deb Fischer and Tim Kaine. The meeting lasted for half-an-hour.

“This was an opportunity for a bipartisan group of Senators to hear first-hand about regional threats and conditions within Afghanistan. The meeting focused on topics related to the Bilateral Security Agreement,” Don Stewart, spokesperson of McConnell, said.

Separately, Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal and Afghan Transition Coordinator Ashraf Ghani led the country’s delegation for a meeting with the US officials to discuss ongoing economic cooperation between the two governments, and the US support for the economic transition underway in Afghanistan.

The American delegation was led by Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides.

Zakhilwal also met Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin and the two officials discussed a range of economic and financial sector issues, including Afghanistan’s outlook for growth and the progress on Afghanistan’s IMF-supported reform programme.

“This is not a visit during which President Obama will be making decisions about US troop levels in the immediate future or beyond 2014. It’s a visit where the two leaders will be able to consult about those issues, and then in the coming months, President Obama will be able to make those decisions in consultation with his national security team,” Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications, Ben Rhodes, told reporters.

“On the security side, they’ll be discussing the 2013 transition and the BSA (bilateral security agreement). They’ll also be discussing the political and economic transition that’s underway, as well as reconciliation and regional stability,” he said.

Rhodes said the US will also consider the “zero option”, meaning complete exit from Afghanistan.

“I’d just say a version of what I said before, which is that would be an option that we would consider, because the President does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping US troops in Afghanistan,” he said.

“He (Obama) views these negotiations as in service of these two missions” of counter-terrorism and training and equipping Afghan forces, Rhodes said.