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Afghanistan and the United States signed a long-delayed security pact Tuesday, ensuring that American troops can stay in the country after the end of the year, in the first major step of newly inaugurated President Ashraf Ghani.

The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) was signed by US Ambassador James Cunningham and Afghanistans National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar, in a televised ceremony at the presidential palace, Reuters reports.

Under the agreement, up to9,800 US soldiers are allowed to stay in Afghanistan after the end of combat operations this year, to help train and advise Afghan military and police forces. A separate pact also signed with NATO Tuesday allows for a small force of roughly 3,000 international troops.

The signing of the security arrangements comes a day after Mr. Ghani was sworn in as Afghanistans second president and signals his desire to reset ties with the US after his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, angered Washington by refusing to ink the agreement.

Mr. Karzai stunned Afghans and international officials alike byrefusing to sign the security dealwith Washington even after it had been approved by the Loya Jirga gathering of local representatives in November, of 2013, the Wall Street Journal writes.

Mr. Karzai, whose ties with the West had soured in recent years, said the agreements would undermine chances for peace with the Taliban, who remain a formidable threat to the central government.

Both Ghani and his campaign opponent Abdullah Abdullah had promised to sign the BSA as a first priority in office. The bitterly disputed and drawn-out election, results of which were delayed due to Mr. Abdullahs accusations of mass fraud, had raised fears that no new president would be in place to sign the deal.

The signing of the security pacts was also a precondition to the continued dispersement of foreign aid. Afghanistan government is hugely reliant on foreign aid a World Bank study in May found that in the year to Sept. 30, 2011, foreign aid was the equivalent of Afghanistans entire GDP, the Economist notes.

The security agreements are directly linked to the continued delivery of billions of dollars in aid that the Afghan government and its armed forces need to survive," The Wall Street Journal writes.

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Crisis averted? Afghanistan, US sign security pact (+video)