Omaha, Neb. ? Afghanistan has laid the foundation for a stable and independent government, but much work remains to be done, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday after receiving an honorary doctorate of letters at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

“My plea today, through this university … to the rest of the world, is to remain with Afghanistan, to be steady and friendly with Afghanistan, until Afghanistan is able to stand on its own feet,” Karzai said.

Karzai said his country has struggled for nearly three decades, including occupation by the former Soviet Union in the 1980s and oppression under the Taliban regime, which the United States routed in late 2001.

Improvements are being made, Karzai said, with presidential elections held in October and parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in three months.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai rides a horse during a tour of a feedlot in West Point, Neb. Karzai ended his visit to the United States on Wednesday with the trip to Nebraska, where he received an honorary degree at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Given a key to the city of Omaha, Karzai said he hoped to establish a sister-city relationship between Omaha and Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Karzai credited Thomas Gouttierre, director of the university’s Center for Afghanistan Studies, for maintaining ties with Afghanistan that date to the 1970s. The center has provided educational materials for Afghan children, among other projects.

The university ceremony ended a daylong sojourn to Nebraska that included a visit to a northeastern Nebraska cattle farm and a trip to Offutt Air Force Base, where Karzai thanked U.S. troops.

“Your work, your service and your sacrifice has brought back Afghanistan to the Afghan people,” Karzai told the mostly military crowd of about 350 gathered at the air base.