The United States has exuded confidence that it will be able to conclude the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Afghanistan soon after the resumption of negotiations.
The negotiations which were in highly advance stage of completion were suspended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently in protest against US efforts to hold direct talks with the Taliban.
“Significant progress had been made in the negotiations before they were suspended, and we’re confident that we can conclude an agreement soon after they resume,” the State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Marie Harf.
Informal discussions have been ongoing on the BSA as they’ve been suspended, but that decision rests with the Afghans, she said.
“In the meantime, we will continue to talk to our Afghan partners on an ongoing basis about the range of issues related to the relationship,” Harf said.
She added that US President Barack Obama has been clear from the beginning that there would be two limited missions for any post-2014 presence.
“That decision hasn’t been made yet, but they would be counterterrorism and to continue to train and equip Afghan forces.
“So that hasn’t changed. No decision has been made on a presence, but some progress has been made on the BSA,” she said.