News Desk: The United States declared Afghanistan as its newest "major non-NATO ally". The announcement comes ahead of the US army will be withdrawn from the country by 2014.


US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced it shortly after arriving in Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. She said that President Barack Obama had designated Afghanistan as a major non-NATO.


"We see this as a powerful commitment to Afghanistan's future," she said at a joint news conference. She said that the progress in the country in on after decades of conflict. The security situation is more stable and the Afghan forces are improving their capacity.


She praised the Afghan government's efforts to establish peace and focus on development. She said that the aim of US was to defeat dangerous extremists, to win over Taliban and to stop violence in the country.


In the meeting, Clinton is expected to discuss with Karzai on US-Afghan civilian and defense ties. From Kabul, she will head for Japan on Saturday for an international conference on Afghan civilian assistance.

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