The future of peace and tranquility in Afghanistan would largely depend on the coming elections and the support of international troops regarding the security situation. United States is the country with the largest number of troops in Afghanistan and its decision regarding the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan is going to play a very important role. The number of the US troops that will be retained after the withdrawal in 2014 will really decide the nature of the US support for Afghan troops.    

One of the issues that has been lingering between Afghanistan and US and that has been creating hurdles regarding the number of US troops in Afghanistan in post 2014 and the nature of US support is the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA). Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called a Loya Jirga that is going to be held in this month in order to decide about the BSA. There are expectations that Loya Jirga would decide in the favor of finalizing BSA, but at the same time there are questions on why a Loya Jirga has been called for the issue as Afghanistan already has an elected parliament that can decide about the BSA.

What will be the outcome of the upcoming Loya Jirga is yet to be seen, but it is important that Afghanistan should have strong strategic relations with US in order to guarantee better security situation. Earlier US had initiated discussions about the full withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving no troops behind – the policy that was adopted in Iraq.

However, now it seems that US hopes to finalize BSA as soon as possible, as a senior US official on Thursday, November 07, ruled out complete withdrawal from the country post 2014.

"There is no question of (full) US withdrawal from Afghanistan from the table. I think the United States is going to be there, is going to be engaged and is going to be supporting the Afghan people through transition… I am confident the United States is not withdrawing from the region. I know that we are working very hard to conclude the BSA and that we will have some presence in the region," the official said on condition of unanimity.

It is vital that US should continue its support to Afghanistan even after withdrawal. A responsible withdrawal process will definitely provide Afghanistan the chance to improve its security situation and political setup. There are myriads of challenges that Afghanistan would face after 2014, and those challenges can only be faced through sufficient support from international community.