WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is setting up a new office in the State Department to oversee America’s relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan during the current transitional period.

An executive order issued on Friday afternoon said the new, temporary set-up shall be called the Afghanistan and Pakistan Strategic Partnership Office. The presidential order comes as the United States and its Nato allies prepare to pull out most of their combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year.

The new office, which will be a part of the State Department, will support US federal agencies in facilitating a “strategic partnership” between the United States and Afghanistan and Pakistan, promoting “further security and stabilisation” in the two countries, and transitioning to a “normalised diplomatic presence” in both countries.