DHAKA: The timeline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan is expected to be high on the agenda during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s first visit to Washington this week.

Ghani, who arrived in the US on Sunday, is due to meet US President Barack Obama on Tuesday and will also hold meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and Defence Secretary Ashton Carter during his four-day visit.

The president - who came to power in September - intends to relaunch peace talks with the Taliban and wants to persuade Obama to delay his plans to withdraw some US troops by the end of 2015.

The US has about 9,800 US forces in Afghanistan to train and support the Afghan military, but the Obama administration plans to reduce that number to 5,600 by the end of the year and withdraw the rest by the end of 2016.

A small number of troops will remain in the country to protect the US embassy.

John Campbell, the head of the US forces in Afghanistan said he is concerned about the summer, which he says, is the first season of fighting in which Afghan troops are ‘completely on their own’.

BDST: 0921 HRS, MAR 23, 2015