AFGHANISTAN. Herat: Speaking at a live press conference on Thursday, US President Joe Biden said that it will be hard to meet the May 1 deadline for getting troops out of Afghanistan due to “tactical reasons”.
When asked about the possibility of US troops’ presence by the next year in Afghanistan, Biden said, “I can’t picture that be the case. He said, “We will leave, but the question is when we leave.”
“It is not my intention to stay there for a long time. The question is how and under what circumstances do we meet that agreement that was made by President Trump.”
Biden said Secretary Blinken was meeting with NATO allies on Afghanistan on how to proceed. “If we leave we are going to do so in a safe and orderly way,” he said. He also added that an “UN-led process” would be beginning shortly on “how to end this war”.
US-Taliban agreement
The deal signed between President Donald Trump’s administration and the Taliban last year did not bring the expected results, according to the Afghan officials. They believe that the violence in the country has surged dramatically since the start of the talks.
Based on the agreement, which opened the historic peace talks as direct talks for the first time between the Afghan government and the Taliban on September 12, 2020, the United States agreed in the deal to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by May 1. The Taliban had also committed to cut-off ties with al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups and to not allow terrorist groups to operate on Afghan soil against the US and its allies.
The Taliban have indicated they could resume attacks on foreign troops if Biden does not meet the May 1 deadline. The deadline was set in a February 2020 deal struck with the Taliban under former President Donald Trump.
Biden noted that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in Europe meeting with US allies.
Also Read: Biden’s Policy Towards Afghanistan Peace Talk
Biden’s proposal to the Afghan government
Blinken has recently proposed Afghan President for an UN-led meeting and several other conditions, including forming a government with the Taliban without an election, which senior Afghan officials opposed.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has repeatedly rejected the US proposal for an interim and transitional government. He conditioned that any transfer of power would have to go through elections as required by the constitution.
The Afghan President said to attend the upcoming UN-Led meeting in Turkey with his proposal of holding the election within 6 months with the Taliban. The conference is going to be very important to decide Afghanistan’s fate and will be attended by the US, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and other regional powers.
Ghani conditioned that he will attend the Turkey meeting, if the Taliban leader, Mullah Hebatullah also attends. Earlier, it was reported that Hebatullah was killed in Pakistan.
