KABUL - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and US President Barack Obama agreed that the conflict in Afghanistan would be one of the topics addressed at the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.
The two leaders met Wednesday in the White House and also agreed that defense capabilities and NATO partnerships with countries outside the alliance would also rank as the top issues for the May 20-21 summit, the White House said in a statement.

On Afghanistan, where US and NATO-led forces have fought an 11-year war, they agreed that the Chicago summit should reaffirm the coalition's commitment to the transition plan agreed on in Lisbon, Portugal in November 2010 when the leaders last met, and to hand over the control of security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

The summit will decide on the final stages of the transition, including a shift next year from combat to a support role, as well as "enduring" support for "sufficient and sustainable" Afghan forces.

Furthermore, "the summit is meant to highlight the commitment of allies to field the defense capabilities that NATO needs for the 21st century," the White House said. Obama and Rasmussen expect "that allies would be in a position to announce progress on a number of key capabilities initiatives, including on missile defense," it added.

While NATO's plan is targeting a 2014 withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, and then in later years, a reduction in Afghan security forces because of financial constraints, conditions on the ground may dictate differently.

Afghanistan's Minister of Interior Bismillah Mohammadi said Wednesday that if foreign interventions continue and security does not improve, any kind of troop drawdown could be dangerous.
He stressed that although the international community has agreed not to decrease the number of Afghan troops until some years after 2014, the Chicago summit will finalize the plan. But he felt it could be risky. (Tolo News)