US secretary of state John Kerry would skip inauguration of new Afghan President to attend the luncheon he and Vice President Joe Biden have organized for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kerry, who personally invested much of his time and energy in resolving the Afghan crisis after the presidential elections and visited Kabul several times to negotiate between two candidates - Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah was scheduled to travel to Afghanistan to be present at the
swearing in ceremony of the new president. However, given the importance that the Obama administration attaches to the Modi government and its efforts to strengthen relationship with India, Kerry, decided not to travel to Kabul.