Senator John McCain (huffingtonpost.com)

(VOVworld) – Three US senators have urged Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) relating to the presence of US troops in Afghanistan after NATO ends its combat mission this year.

Addressing reporters in Kabul on Thursday, three Republican senators - John McCain, John Barrasso, and Lindsey Graham - warned that without the BSA, the security of Afghanistan and the South Asian region will be threatened. The lawmakers warned that without this deal, Afghanistan will suffer continuing violence like Iraq.

Senator McCain expressed his belief that the current differences between Washington and Kabul can be narrowed and resolved in a very short time once both sides sign the BSA that will allow 8,000 of the 12,000 foreign soldiers in Afghanistan to remain past 2014. The Obama administration wanted to sign the deal before the last day of 2013, but President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign and wants to leave the issue for the winner of the general election in April.