Afghanistan’s new president Ashraf Ghani will meet with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry at Camp David during his visit to the U.S. next week, the State Department announced Monday.
Ghani is expected to meet with Carter and Kerry next Monday, March 23, to discuss the continued presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Ghani has requested that President Obama extend the stay of the 10,000 troops currently in Afghanistan through 2016.
Based on current plans, U.S. troop levels are expected to drop to 5,500 by the end of this year.
The Pentagon on Monday would not say whether plans to keep more troops in Afghanistan had been finalized. However, Carter has provided the White House alternative options, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said Monday.
Ghani is expected to meet with President Obama at Camp David the next day, and then address a joint session of Congress that Wednesday.
