Obama to host Afghan president at White House

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama will host Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House on Friday, the White House announced on Monday.

Obama looks forward to "discussing our continued transition in Afghanistan, and our shared vision of an enduring partnership between the United States and Afghanistan," it said in a statement.

Karzai's visit comes as the Afghan national security forces are preparing to take over security after the NATO-led forces' scheduled withdrawal in 2014.

Some are expecting that the visit can lead to the inking of a long-term security partnership between the two nations.

The talks between the United States and Afghanistan on the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) formally began in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Nov 15, 2012.

The controversial agreement, if signed, would guarantee the presence of U.S. military at least for several years in Afghanistan, a contentious issue that has been opposed by some in Afghanistan and its neighbors. The deal could also allow US economic and military aid to Afghanistan.

Some 100,000 NATO-led troops, with over 60,000 of them American soldiers, are presently stationed in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban-led insurgency.

Afghanistan is expected to have 350,000-strong national security forces including national army and police by 2014. But some observers believe these are not enough to deal with security threats in the war-torn country.