( CNN ) President Barack Obama may change the United States ' plan to withdraw virtually all its troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016 , his new defense secretary said Saturday during a visit to the central Asian nation -- an indication that the White House is considering extending the U.S. troop presence there beyond that year . U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter made the comment in a news conference in Kabul with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani , who has previously called on Obama to `` re-examine '' the withdrawal plan to ensure his country has the support it needs to maintain security gains . Carter arrived in Afghanistan 's capital on Saturday during his first foreign trip since being sworn in as defense secretary four days ago . `` Our priority now is to make sure this progress sticks . That is why President Obama is considering a number of options to reinforce our support for President Ghani 's security strategy , including possible changes to the time line for our drawdown of U.S. troops , '' Carter said . `` That could mean taking another look at the timing and sequencing of base closures to ensure we have the right array of coalition capabilities to support our Afghan partners , '' he said . After Ghani 's election last year , Afghanistan and the United States signed a security agreement that allowed U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the previous December 2014 deadline to withdraw . Under the current plan , the United States ended its combat presence in Afghanistan in December , but nearly 11,000 troops remained at the start of 2015 for training and support roles . American forces currently are expected to drop to 5,500 in 2016 , and by 2017 the U.S. military presence is to scale down to what officials described as a `` normal '' embassy security contingent . Last month , Ghani told CBS ' `` 60 Minutes '' that Obama should reconsider the 2016 withdrawal plan . `` Deadlines concentrate the mind . But deadlines should not be dogmas , '' Ghani said in the `` 60 Minutes '' interview . He continued : `` If both parties or , in this case , multiple partners , have done their best to achieve the objectives and progress is very real , then there should be willingness to re-examine a deadline . '' Carter recently took over as secretary of defense , replacing Chuck Hagel . The Senate confirmed Carter on February 12 , and he sworn in on Tuesday . Carter plans to meet with U.S. troops and other Afghan leaders during his Afghanistan trip Saturday and Sunday . Before his plane landed in Kabul , Carter told reporters he wants to better understand America 's role in Afghanistan . `` I have seen reports of all kinds giving assessment of how things are going in Afghanistan and I 'm just coming back into the government now and trying to wrap my mind around it , '' he said . When asked about ISIS activity in Afghanistan , Carter replied : `` I 've seen the reports of people essentially rebranding themselves as ISIL here in Afghanistan as has occurred in other places . The reports I 've seen still have them in small numbers and aspirational . '' Carter , 60 , is a respected technocrat who served in a number of high-level positions at the Pentagon . He holds degrees in theoretical physics and medieval history from Yale and Oxford . Hagel , a former Republican senator , resigned after less than two years on the job when he was unable to fully mesh with Obama 's national security team at the White House . CNN 's Diane Ruggiero contributed to this report .
President Carter : Obama considering ` ` possible changes '' to U.S. troop drawdown timeline . He will visit U.S. troops and Afghan officials during his two - week stay in Afghanistan .