News Analysis: Ghani's U.S. tour bearing burden to lower strains in Washington-Kabul relations

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is leading a high rank 70-member delegation, including his former electoral rival and serving chief executive in the government Abdullah Abdullah, in Washington for talks with U.S. leaders to seek their continued support.

The visit is taking place after the security transition from the U.S.-led NATO coalition forces, involving the withdrawal of more than 120,000 allied troops from Afghanistan, despite the ongoing Taliban-led militancy and impoverished economic situation of the region.

Washington-Kabul relations have experienced ups and downs and hit their lowest level during former President Hamid Karzai's reign as he accused the U.S.-led coalition forces of highhandedness and of killing Afghan civilians during military operations.

The former president also refused to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) to legalize the presence of a limited number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, a contentious subject that Ghani inked in his second working day after assuming office last September to put bilateral relations back on track.

"Since inking the Bilateral Security Agreement, relations between Afghanistan and the U.S. have improved and it is expected that the U.S. will accept the Afghan government's requests for long-term support," renown political and military analyst Gen. Rtd. Atiqullah Omarkhil told Xinhua.

President Ghani during the visit from March 22 to 25 in meeting with his U.S. counterpart and other leaders, according to Omarkhil, will exchange views on enhancing bilateral relations, seeking support for the Afghan peace process, equipping Afghan national security forces, the war on terror, advocating for a slowdown of the U.S. forces' withdrawal process in Afghanistan and on economic cooperation with his cash-strapped country.

"Leaving Afghanistan in the lurch would aid terrorist groups including the so-called Islamic State (IS) to turn Afghanistan into a terrorists' hub," said the analyst, warning that such a sanctuary would threaten the stability of the region and the world at large, including the U.S. and Europe.

His warning came as the orthodox IS outfit, controlling territory in Iraq and Syria, has reportedly begun recruiting fighters in Afghanistan.

After the end of the NATO-led forces combat mission in Afghanistan in late 2014, more than 13,000 U.S.-led forces under a new mission called Resolute Support have remained in Afghanistan to train and advise Afghan security forces.

According to President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan, only 1, 000 troops would remain by the end of 2016 in Afghanistan to safeguard U.S. diplomatic missions in the country.

In spite of the international community's engagement with Afghanistan over the past 13 years, the country is still among the poorest in the world and marred by corruption and rampant poppy.

Public opinion in the U.S., according to observers, has drastically dropped down with regard to supporting Afghan war, and Ghani during his speeches at U.S. institutions including Congress has to allay concerns and prove that Afghanistan is a trustworthy ally of Washington, political watchers here have said.

"Signing the BSA by the national unity government has already removed the obstacle in U.S.-Afghan relations and opened a new chapter in their relationship," Saifudin Saihoon, a university professor in Kabul told Xinhua, adding that Afghanistan and the U. S. are strategic partners and the U.S. should renew its commitment to the region during Ghani's visit to support Afghanistan.

Seemingly to echo that call, Obama on Tuesday announced that he would leave 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan until at least the end of 2015. Endi