Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that he hopes the United States will reconsider its stand on a bilateral security pact.



Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on December 14, Karzai reiterated that he wants assurances that the Bilateral Security Agreement setting out the terms for U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan after the end of 2014 will bring peace and security.



Karzai said he understood that defying the United States will have "serious consequences," saying: "The Afghan people are short of resources. Our military and police will suffer."



On December 13, Karzai told Indian television that he would not be "intimidated" into signing the agreement.



The president has said he could sign the deal after Afghanistan's presidential elections in April, while U.S. officials urged him to sign immediately.



Based on reporting by AFP and AP