US–Afghanistan inked Strategic Pact setting Guidelines for US Involvement in Afghanistan

US and Afghanistan inked a long-awaited strategic pact on 22 April 2012. The pact aims at setting forth guidelines for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as forces are withdrawn from the trouble-torn nation.

The pact provides a strong foundation for the security of Afghanistan, the region and the world. Both the countries took almost one year to reach on the mutual agreement. The agreement was expected to be inked before the NATO summit to be held in May 2012.

The agreement speaks for a smaller but longer-term U.S. presence in Afghanistan as it would give western leaders a rationale for supporting Kabul after combat troops are withdrawn in 2014. It also aims to reassure Afghans that the West will not cut and run, and is critical to Afghanistan's financial stability.

US army along with NATO troops has been present in Afghanistan from 2001, as the army is combating the radical Taliban militants in the country. The US forces in May 2011 had gunned down Osama Bin Laden in Abottabad in Pakistan but it proved to be of little help for the Afghanistan government as the country still suffers a great deal of terror every day. Thousands of people have been killed so far in the US war against terrorism in Afghanistan. The US president Barak Obama in an announcement made in 2010 said that the US army will hand over the internal security of Afghanistan to the Afghan security forces by 2014.