June 25, 2021
3 mins read

As troops get set to leave, Biden to meet Afghan leaders

White House says Biden’s first meeting as president with Ghani and Abdullah, will focus on ongoing commitment to the Afghan people, reports Asian Lite News

President Joe Biden meets Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, on Friday to discuss Washington’s support for Afghanistan as the last US troops pack up after 20 years of war and government forces struggle to repel Taliban advances.

The Oval Office meeting may be as valuable to Ghani for its symbolism as for any new US help because it will be seen as affirming Biden’s support for the beleaguered Afghan leader as he confronts Taliban gains, bombings and assassinations, a surge in Covid-19 cases and political infighting in Kabul.

Biden’s embrace, however, comes only months after US officials were pressuring Ghani to step aside for a transitional government under a draft political accord that they floated in a failed gambit to break a stalemate in peace talks.

Biden’s first meeting as president with Ghani and Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, will focus on “our ongoing commitment to the Afghan people” and security forces, said White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Biden has asked Congress to approve $3.3 billion in security assistance for Afghanistan next year and is sending 3 million doses of vaccines there to help it battle Covid-19.

Biden will urge Ghani and Abdullah, foes in Afghanistan’s two last presidential elections, “to be a united front” and he will reaffirm US support for a negotiated peace deal, Jean-Pierre said.

Officials, however, have been clear that Biden will not halt the US pullout – likely to be completed by late July or early August – and he is unlikely to approve any US military support to Kabul to halt the Taliban’s advances beyond advice, intelligence, and aircraft maintenance.

Ghani and Abdullah spent Thursday discussing the situation in Afghanistan with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

ALSO READ: 300 mn jabs in 150 days: Biden’s new milestone

On Thursday, Intelligence has warned that Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, could fall to the Taliban within six months of the departure of the last of the US and international troops. The warning came amid growing international concern about Taliban making gains since May 1, when the US and allied troops began leaving Afghanistan in accordance with a timeline announced by Biden for complete the withdrawal by September 11.

India, a key stakeholder in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, called for a UN-led ceasefire in the country during a UN Security Council debate on Monday, pointing to a sudden escalation in violence in the country since May 1.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence experts had earlier assessed that the government of President Ghani would survive for two years after the US withdrawal based roughly on the time it took for the fall of Saigon in Vietnam after US troop pull-out in 1975.

Intelligence and military analysts have since revised their assessment and now believe that Kabul could fall in six to 12 months after the departure of American troops, the WSJ reported, adding that officials in other western countries fear the capital could fall far sooner, possibly in three months.

US military has planned to wind up the withdrawal by as soon as July, going down from the 3,500 currently stationed there to zero, barring a small force to be left behind for the protection of American diplomatic missions and officials.

ALSO READ: Ghani, Abdullah to meet Biden at White House

ALSO READ: Israel president set to meet Biden before retiring

Previous Story

2020 was a deadly year for the PRC

Next Story

Mumbai terror attack suspect Tahawwur Rana, to remain in US

Latest from -Top News

Multi-alignment, upgraded

With US ties strained and China tense, New Delhi taps Europe’s harder edge for co-development, clean tech and strategic autonomy, writes Manoj Menon India is recalibrating its great-power hedging as frictions with

India-EU Trade Deal Breakthrough Soon?

Negotiators report increased momentum in discussions, which have been given a boost from US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive…reports Asian Lite News India and the European Union aim to finalise a trade

Europe Seeks Peace in Gaza

European countries condemn Israeli interception of Gaza-bound flotilla, demand safety of citizens…reports Asian Lite News Israel’s interception of an international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza has sparked condemnation across Europe, with

GAZA: Egypt to Host Peace Talks

Egypt hopes the discussions will help “end the war and the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people, which has continued for two consecutive years…reports Asian Lite News Egypt will host Israeli and

‘My Injuries Made Me’

During his four-year battle with injury, the incumbent fast bowling spearhead made occasional appearances but couldn’t bear the workload and demands of red-ball cricket….reports Asian Lite News England tearaway Jofra Archer believes
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Extraordinary to see the biggest election in world: US envoy

The Lok Sabha elections are being held in India across

Reconsider ‘Flag of Kashmir’ Demand, Indian Americans Warn US University

Students requested displaying flags of occupied peoples, such as Palestinians,