Obama calls Ghani; commends effort to improve ties with Pakistan

The US President encouraged accelerated Afghan progress towards forming an inclusive national unity government

US President Barack Obama held a video conference with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, and discussed bilateral ties, the peace process and commended the new Kabul regime for its efforts to improve relationship with Pakistan, the White House has said.

The Afghanistan Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdullah Abdullah also participated in the video conference call.

"The President commended President Ghani and Dr Abdullah on their leadership in promoting an Afghan peace process to end the conflict in Afghanistan and their initiative to improve Afghanistan-Pakistan relations, the White House said yesterday.

Obama encouraged accelerated Afghan progress towards forming an inclusive national unity government and expressed his expectation that their visit to Washington later this month will demonstrate our mutual commitment to a strengthened US-Afghan strategic partnership, a statement by the White House said.

"The leaders discussed the ongoing efforts of the Afghan National Security Forces to improve security in Afghanistan and the importance of countering extremist threats from groups like al-Qaida," the statement added.