US hopes security agreement with Afghanistan by Oct: Dobbins

The bilateral security is currently being held between the US and Afghanistan in Kabul

The United States hopes that the bilateral security agreement with Afghanistan, which would pave the way for an enduring American presence there, could be reached in October, the Obama Administration has said.

"We're hoping the agreements can be reached sometime in October, and we're reasonably optimistic that it will be," US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, James Dobbins, told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

The bilateral security agreement (BSA) is currently being held between the US and Afghanistan in Kabul.

In the 10 months since it was launched in November last year, the Afghan-US BSA negotiations were being led by the Afghan Ambassador to the US, Eklil Hakimi, while the American side was led by James Warlick, the Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

These talks have now been shifted to Kabul with new interlocutors.

The negotiations from the American side are being led by the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, James Cunningham, and US and NATO Commander in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford.

The Afghan side is represented by the National Security Adviser, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, and Dr Ashraf Ghani, Chairman of the Transition Commission.

It is understood that the four - Cunningham, Dunford, Spanta and Ghani - are now looking at some of the contentious issues like immunity for the US soldiers and territorial integrity of Afghanistan.