As the crisis in Afghanistan intensified with Kabul falling into the hands of the Taliban, most countries said their primary focus at this time was on evacuating their citizens who were stranded in the war-torn country.
In its first reaction to developments in Afghanistan, India on Monday said it is continuously monitoring the situation and will take all steps to ensure the safety of Indian citizens as well as its interests in that country.
foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the situation in Kabul “has deteriorated significantly” Efforts are on to facilitate the return of more people who want to leave Afghanistan in the last few days, PTI reported.
“We have been issuing advisories from time to time for the safety and security of Indian citizens, including calling for their immediate return to India,” he said during a media briefing. “We are in touch with representatives of the Afghan Sikh, Hindu communities…will facilitate those who want to leave Afghanistan,” he said.
Britain’s Defense Ministry has said that British troops are now in Kabul to help evacuate the rest of the British.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after chairing a cabinet emergency committee meeting on Sunday, said the priority was to evacuate British civilians, as well as Afghans who helped Britain’s military in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, “as soon as possible.” May be”.
“Ambassadors are working round the clock, at the airport to help process applications. We definitely have the means to get them out at the moment… it’s just a question of making sure they are able to do it over the next few days,” he told Sky News.
Britain’s parliament, which is currently on its summer vacation, was recalled for a day on Wednesday to discuss the British government’s handling of the crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban overthrew the Western-backed government and seized control of Kabul. response can be debated.
According to PTI, the Speaker of the House of Commons requested the government to recall the House of Commons on Wednesday, 18 August at 9.30 am regarding the situation in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called another emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBRA) meeting on Monday to take stock of the crisis in the region.
France is also moving its embassy in Kabul to the airport to evacuate all citizens still in Afghanistan, initially relocating them to Abu Dhabi.
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Dren said in a statement on Sunday that military reinforcements and aircraft would be deployed to the UAE in a few hours, “so that the first evacuation towards Abu Dhabi can begin.”
DW reported that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Bundeswehr planes were being deployed to help with evacuation efforts in Kabul.
Maas said in a brief statement to reporters on Sunday evening that those being evacuated would be brought to the neighboring country and then civilian passenger planes would be used to take them back to Germany.
‘The speed at which cities fell into Taliban hands unexpectedly’
At a time when US strategy in Afghanistan has come under attack from several quarters, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that Afghanistan fell faster than the administration expected, and blamed the Afghans themselves for the government’s collapse.
“It is certainly the case that the speed at which cities declined was much greater than anyone anticipated,” Sullivan said Monday on NBC’s “Today.”
But he said the US ultimately could not give Afghan security forces “the will” to fight the Taliban to protect their budding democracy.
“At the end of the day, despite the fact that we spent 20 years and tens of billions of dollars to give the Afghan security forces the best equipment, the best training and the best capabilities, we couldn’t give them the will and they ultimately decided they would go to Kabul. Will not fight for and they will not fight for the country,” Sullivan said.
More than 60 countries issued a joint statement on Sunday night, citing the “deteriorating security situation” in Afghanistan. The statement, distributed to US media by the State Department, said those in power and authority across the country have “responsibility – and accountability – for the protection of human life and property, and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order.” ..”
The statement concludes: “The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and respect. We in the international community stand ready to assist them.”
Biden’s announcement in April that the US was leaving by September, after Britain’s policy of withdrawing its remaining troops from Afghanistan, did not escape criticism. Conservative Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Britain’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was Britain’s worst foreign policy disaster since Britain’s failed invasion of Egypt in 1956.
Opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer has urged the government to explain what it plans to do to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and prevent it from becoming a base for international terrorism again, the AP reported. .
contrasting voices
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said on Monday that China stands ready to develop “friendly and cooperative” relations with Afghanistan and that it “respects the wishes and choices of the Afghan people.”
Although Hua did not comment on whether Beijing would explicitly recognize the Taliban government, he said China respected the country’s sovereignty, the South China Morning Post reported.
prime minister of pakistan Imran Khan On Monday, the Taliban backed the capture of Kabul, saying Afghanistan had broken “the shackles of slavery” in the neighboring war-torn country.
Speaking at a function to launch the first phase of Single National Curriculum (SNC) for grades 1 to 5, which was part of the manifesto of his ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
“When you adopt someone’s culture you consider it superior and you become a slave to it,” he said, adding that it creates a system of mental slavery that is worse than actual slavery.
In the same breath, he indirectly compared the ongoing turmoil in Afghanistan with the people of the country breaking the “shackles of slavery”.
Khan said that being a mental slave was worse than being a real slave, adding that subordinate minds could never make big decisions.
Pakistan is accused of facilitating the Taliban insurgency, which ultimately resulted in the country being captured after being ousted nearly 20 years ago.
When the Taliban controlled nearly 90% of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, Pakistan was one of the few countries that recognized the legitimacy of the regime. Other countries to do so were Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Saudi Arabia called on the Taliban to protect life and property in a statement from its foreign ministry on Monday.
Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s presidential envoy to Afghanistan, said Moscow would not rush to recognize the Taliban and would make a decision based on the group’s actions, AFP reported.
The Russian ambassador is reportedly due to meet the Taliban on Tuesday.
President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan said on Monday that Russia was in contact with Taliban officials through its embassy in Kabul.
(with agency input)
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