WASHINGTON, Jan 10: US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, while welcoming Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Pentagon on Thursday, said the long and costly Afghan war was in its “last chapter”.

Mr Karzai reciprocated these sentiments by assuring the United States that Afghanistan would soon become self-reliant in defending itself.

“We are finally, I believe, at the last chapter of establishing in Afghanistan a secure Afghanistan that can govern and secure itself for the future,” Mr Panetta told reporters after his meeting with Mr Karzai.

Mr Panetta said the next year would be very important for Afghanistan as the United States plans to complete the transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

“But I want to assure you, my friend, the United States and the Department of Defence are fully committed to helping the people of Afghanistan secure and govern your own country,” he added.

President Karzai said the two sides had moved towards the completion of this transition and by mid-2013 Afghanistan would be taking over the responsibilities for its own security.

Mr Karzai said he was sure that during his current visit to Washington, “Afghanistan and the United States will work out the modality for a bilateral security limit that will ensure the interests of the state of Afghanistan and also the interests of the United States.”

Also on Thursday, the official Afghan news agency PAN quoted Afghan officials travelling with Mr Karzai as saying that the US statement about withdrawing all its troops from Afghanistan by 2014 aimed at seeking more concessions from Kabul.

On Tuesday evening, US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in Washington that the United States was considering the possibility of withdrawing all its troops from Afghanistan by 2014. US and Nato officials are currently negotiating a post-2014 security arrangement with the Afghan government and hope to sign a deal by November this year. Members of Mr Karzai’s delegation, however, told PAN that such statements were part of a US strategy to seek more concessions from the Kabul government which had set “tough conditions” for future US troop presence in Afghanistan.

Among other things, the US is also demanding immunity for its troops from future litigations, a concession Kabul is reluctant to grant.

On Wednesday afternoon, President Karzai met Rhodes at the White House and also had a separate meeting with the CIA’s acting director, Michael Morrell.

President Karzai’s chief spokesman Aimal Faizi told PAN that “the overall security situation in Afghanistan figured prominently at the talks,” but gave no details.Mr Karzai also met a bipartisan group of US senators and discussed the impending transition of security responsibilities to Afghan national forces. They also discussed a bilateral security agreement between the US and Afghanistan.Mr Karzai, who also met the secretaries of state and defence on Thursday and is meeting President Barack Obama at the White House on Friday.

PAN reported that the two leaders will hold “curial talks” over a security deal that would allow a small number of US soldiers to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014.