KABUL: US Secretary of State John Kerry paid an unannounced visit to Afghanistan yesterday for talks with President Hamid Karzai, a US official said, with both sides hoping to stabilise the country before most foreign troops leave by the end of 2014.
Kerry and Karzai will discuss issues, including Afghan reconciliation, transfer of security responsibility to Afghan forces and Afghanistan’s elections, the official said.
Karzai’s government is trying to open formal negotiations with the Taliban, who have remained resilient in the face of superior Nato firepower in the war now in its 12th year.
Tensions between the US and Afghanistan have deepened in recent years over a range of issues, including civilian casualties during air strikes, night raids and the transfer of prisoners.
The official acknowledged the difficulties in the US-Afghan relationship but said he believed they had resolved a number of them, including an agreement to remove US forces from part of Wardak province where they were accused of mistreating local residents.
He also said the United States believed that the two nations had moved beyond an incident in which Karzai recently accused Washington of colluding with the Taliban to keep foreign forces in Afghanistan, marring US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel’s first trip to Pakistan since taking on his new post. “There will always be bumps in the road... It’s a relationship that can withstand those,” the official said.
“The process of winding down our current position and role in Afghanistan and stepping into more of a support role... is not going to be a smooth process at all times. Issues of sovereignty and security are always going to be difficult.”
The official said Kerry had wanted to visit Pakistan on this trip but had decided not to, given the May 11 election, in part to avoid any appearance of seeking to influence what would be Pakistan’s first civilian to civilian electoral handover.
The military has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 66-year history through coups or from behind the scenes. The US is a major donor to Pakistan and there is suspicion among many Pakistanis over US involvement in the country. Agencies
