WASHINGTON: The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai has said that the United States might want to re-examine the timetable for removing remaining coalition troops from the country.
In an interview with a US television network, he however said that it depends on the real progress to be achieved by the coalition partners during the months ahead.
“If both parties, or, in this case, multiple partners, have done their best to achieve the objectives and progress is very real, then there should be willingness to re-examine a deadline,” the Afghan president told the CBS program “60 Minutes”.
In response to a question if he had told that to the US President Barack Obama, Ghani said “President Obama knows me. We don’t need to – to tell each other.”
The Obama administration said earlier last month that about 10,800 troops will remain in the country for at least the first few months of 2015 to help provide support to the Afghan security forces.
The US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formally ended their combat mission in Afghanistan last month after 13 years, during an event in Kabul which was also organized for the transition to the new Resolute Support Mission.
The objective of the Resolute Support Mission is to provide training, advice and assistance for the Afghan security forces and institutions. It will not involve combat actions.
The mission envisages the deployment of more than 12,500 troops from NATO and partner nations in Afghanistan.
