KABUL - Ash Carter, the US Deputy Secretary of Defense, during his visit to Kabul earlier this month said that it would be a "tragedy" if Afghan and the US negotiators failed to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), allowing the US troops to stay in the country after 2014.

Mr. Carter told the Afghan officials that President Barack Obama wants to see a signed BSA as quickly as possible to provide "certainty" to the US commanders.

"We need that soon because we need to be able to plan. And we need it soon because our allies and partners need to be able to plan," Carter said in an interview with the AFP.

"It would be a tragedy if this thing was not concluded soon, because most Afghans are in favor of the coalition continuing its work there to strengthen the Afghan forces, so that they can go on and live a better life," he said.

Meanwhile, Janan Mosazai, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), revealed that unofficial talks between Washington and Kabul regarding the BSA are underway. But, Mr. Mosazai added that for the Afghan government to sign the BSA, Washington should accept all the demands of Kabul.

"This is a historical agreement, in this agreement the nation's interest should be considered and the US should accept the demands of the Afghan government," said Mr. Mosazai.

In light of the delay caused over signing the BSA, several Afghan political experts have warned the government saying that if the BSA is not signed then other countries will keep interfering in the affairs of Afghanistan. They added that the BSA is the only way by means of which peace and stability can be brought into Afghanistan.

"Any delay in signing the agreement may increase the interference of other countries into the affairs of Afghanistan. The agreement should be signed as quickly as possible to bring peace and stability into the country," said Meyagul Wasiq, an Afghan political expert.

Earlier this month, Brigadier General James Blackburn, the Deputy Commander of the US Army III Corps, stressed on the need of having the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) considering the present security situation of Afghanistan.

During an interaction with TOLOnews, Brigadier General Blackburn emphasized that US aid is solely dependent on the signing of the BSA; the discussions over which have been ongoing since several months without any outcome.

"The agreement overall is positive for security. Tangibly, what the US and the international community provide for the afghan security forces are the ability to continue in that development," Brig. Gen Blackburn said.

The BSA is meant to provide the roadmap for the U.S. security role in Afghanistan after the bulk of troops are withdrawn, when the official NATO combat mission ends in December, 2014. It was created as part of the U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Cooperation Agreement, which was put into place in July of 2012. Although largely established already, the final signing of the BSA has been delayed due to a number of issues.

The issue of legal immunity for the U.S. troops is said to be one of the major sticking points in negotiations, as it was for the U.S. when it went through the same process in Iraq. Nevertheless, despite leaks coming out of the White House regarding the potential of a "zero option" – where no troops would be left in Afghanistan post-2014 – like in Iraq, experts say such a scenario would be foolish and is highly unlikely.

Back in June, President Hamid Karzai said he was going to freeze talks with the U.S. over the BSA following the unraveling of an attempt at peace negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar. He said he would not begin talks again until the Taliban agreed to meet with the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC). It would appear lines of communication have been re-opened despite no official peace process with the Taliban being restarted yet.

Washington has been pressing the Afghan government to ink the BSA as quickly as possible. But, the Afghan authorities made it clear that they will sign the agreement only if the US accepts all the terms and conditions put front by Kabul. (Tolo News)