With Memorial Day one day away, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces made a surprise landing in Afghanistan to spend the holiday with the troops stationed there.

President Obama landed at Bagram Air Field Sunday night local time after leaving Washington in secret on Saturday night. The visit, according to the Los Angeles Times, is for the soldiers serving in the war-torn nation and does not have any political purpose. Upon landing, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, greeted President Obama after he disembarked from Air Force One.

The president has no plans to meet with President Karzai nor any of the candidates running, said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes to the reporters aboard Air Force One. He was there to discuss future troop numbers, following the withdrawal at the end of the year, with the ambassador and general, reports the L.A. Times.

"It is important for him to come before he articulates a decision," Rhodes said.

Rhodes added that the administration sees the trip as "an opportunity for the president to thank American troops and civilians for their service," according to Stephen Collinson, an Agence France-Presse reporter also on the trip. The president has not been to Afghanistan in two years, so this as the perfect opportunity to visit.

However, the topic of troop deployments after the end of the year continues to be contested. According to Reuters, President Karzai declined an offer to welcome the president at the American base.

"President Karzai said he would warmly welcome him if he comes to the palace but in no way he would go Bagram to meet him," Karzai's chief of staff Abdul Karim Khurram said.

Both administrations have had a falling out because the Karzai administration refuses to sign a bilateral security agreement. Reuters reports that the Obama administration wants the agreement signed before leaving a security force after the general withdrawal of troops at the end of the year. However, Karzai has vehemently protested many of the U.S. actions, including the death of civilians and illegal surveillance.

Currently there are around 33,000 troops in Afghanistan, but the administration says it will drop to around 10,000 troops, the minimum required to train the Afghan forces, reports Reuters. Singer Brad Paisley accompanied the president to perform for the troops.

The president gave a speech at the air base, in which he spoke of the work that still needs to be done in Afghanistan but congratulated the troops on their efforts and thanked them, according to the transcript obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

"To all of you, I'm here on a single mission, and that is to thank you for your extraordinary service. I thank you as your Commander-in-Chief because you inspire me.  Your willingness to serve, to step forward at a time of war, and say 'send me,' is the reason the United States stays strong and free..." the president said. "But I'm also here representing 300 million Americans who want to say thank you as well."