The Government has started formal negotiations with American officials on status of the US military and civilian presence beyond 2014. The coming American commander of ISAF General Dunford during his testimony before a Senate Committee has said the negotiations would be completed by May 2013. Reports from Washington suggest the US wants to keep approximately 20,000 troops in Afghanistan for training of Afghan National Security Forces and counterterrorism operations.

Ambassador to Washington Eklil Hakimi is leading the Afghan negotiating team. The US Deputy Special Representative for AfPak James Warlick is leading Washington's team. The first meeting on the talk was held on Thursday. Heads of both delegations indicated the contentious issues of exact number of troops and their immunity from persecution under local law in Afghanistan would be discussed at the final stage of the talks.

As agreed during the Strategic Partnership Agreement approval by Presidents Obama and Karzai in May, the specifics of military and security issues are to be agreed under the Bilateral Security Agreement. Bitter days are ahead in the process of this negotiation.

As seen prior the SPA, which took two years of contentious talks on Afghan-control of US-run prisons in Afghanistan and the limits of Special Forces' night raids finally agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding on the Transfer of US Detention Facilities and the Memorandum of Understanding on Afghanization of the Special Operations, talks on BSA should not go through a waste of time.

Primary objectives and guiding principles of the BSA dialogue include full respect for Afghanistan's sovereignty and national interest. Both officials in Thursday's press briefing said strengthening the capacity and capabilities of Afghan forces and defense of Afghanistan against external threats, and pursuing both countries' shared goal o eliminating transnational terrorism are key goals of the agreement to be pursued during talks.

However, the current Administration needs full consultation with parliament and civil society. An unpopular administration in the last year of its second and final term should conduct widespread consultation in an inclusive process of decision making on this very important negotiation and agreement to be made.

Short-term interests of the ruling circle for pursuing narrow domestic agendas should not be imposed in the guise of national interest during the BSA talks. The parliament as elected representatives of the people of Afghanistan should be given strong voice in the decision making during the BSA talks.