US president Barack Obama assured the Afghan government officials not to abandon Afghanistan beyond 2014, which is a deadline for the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan.

Obama said he recently signed strategic cooperation agreement with Afghan president Hamid Karzai which means that Washington remains committed to support Afghanistan on a long term basis beyond 2014.

This comes as the rift between Washington and Islamabad widened after the two nations failed to agree on resumption of NATO supplies through Pakistan. The issue of NATO supplies line was expected to be discussed during the second day of the NATO summit in Chicago.

The strategic cooperation agreement between United States and Afghanistan was signed on 1 May, 2012 after the pact was discussed for almost 18 months between the officials of the two nations.

In the meantime Afghanistan signed a number of strategic pact with some allied nations however Pakistan and Iran opposed the strategic pact between Kabul and Washington.

The comments by president Barack Obama to support Afghanistan on a long term basis comes amid growing hopes by the Afghans to receive committments from NATO member countries beyond 2014.

NATO summit in Chicago mainly focused on security issues of Afghanistan however another international conference is expected to be organized in Tokyo Japan during the month of June where the International Community is due to discuss the reconstruction and economic development in Afghanistan.