Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned against intimidation regarding signing a security pact allowing US troops to stay on after next year.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned against intimidation regarding signing a security pact allowing US troops to stay on after next year.
During a visit to India, Karzai stressed the Kabul would not be "intimidat
ed" into signing the pact which would allow 12,000 US troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 and sets out their terms of engagement.
"Aggressive rhetoric won't work... We are not a nation that is known for giving into intimidation," he told Indian television NDTV.
"If they have not recognized this they should, it will be good for them to recognize... We will sign it when we feel sure that our signature will bring peace and security."
Karzai, who is due to stand down after elections next year, initially endorsed the so-called Bilateral Security Agreement.
But he later said the agreement could only be signed after the presidential election in April, warning against a NATO presence if it just meant "more bombs and killings".
His stance has outraged US officials and lawmakers, who have threatened a complete pullout if Karzai does not sign by the end of the year.
Karzai met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid at the start of a three-day visit, with the United States hoping New Delhi can persuade him to ink the troubled pact.
Military Assistance
James Dobbins, the US special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan, this week told a Senate Committee he hoped India could help persuade Karzai to ink the agreement.
India has poured $2 billion in reconstruction aid into Afghanistan, and Karzai's ambassador to Kabul said ahead of the visit that requests for more military assistance would be high on the agenda.
An Indian government official, who did not want to be named, told AFP that Khurshid and Karzai had "wide-ranging" and "candid" talks. A source also confirmed that Karzai had met with Singh but there was no immediate word on the outcome.
On his last visit to New Delhi in May, Karzai said he had put forward a "wish list" of military assistance he hoped Delhi could deliver.
