US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Important visit to Afghanistan

Listen to this article

On Sunday, the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kabul on his first trip to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, following circulating questions about how long American troops will remain in the country. The arrival of Austin was also reported by Afghan State-owned Radio and Television. He will meet senior Afghan government officials, including President Ashraf Ghani. Last week, President Joe Biden said in an interview that it will be tough for the US to meet the 1^st May deadline to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. Point to be noted that the Taliban warned on Friday of consequences if the US doesn’t meet the deadline. A member of the Taliban negotiation team, Suhail Shaheen informed reporters that if US troops stay beyond May 1, it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. That violation would not be from our side. Their violation will have a reaction.

US Defense Secretary is expected to meet the Afghan President and the newly appointed defense Chief, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Yasin Zia. The Biden administration is also reviewing the agreement the Trump administration signed with the Taliban last year. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote a letter to Ghani earlier this month. He said it is urgent to make peace in Afghanistan and warned that it is likely the Taliban would make swift territorial gains if the United States and NATO troops withdrew. It is noteworthy that the United States spends $4 billion a year to sustain Afghanistan’s National Security Forces. The Taliban warned America against defying the 1^st May deadline at a press conference in Moscow, the day after meeting with senior Afghan government negotiators and international observers to try to jumpstart a stalled peace process to end Afghanistan’s decades of war.

The Biden administration has also given both the Taliban and the Afghan government an eight-page peace proposal which both sides are reviewing. It calls for an interim “peace government” which would shepherd Afghanistan toward constitutional reform and elections. Ghani has resisted an interim administration causing his critics to accuse him of clinging to power. He says elections alone would be acceptable to bring a change of government. Both the US and Kabul have called for a reduction in the violence leading to a cease-fire. Taliban say a cease-fire would be part of the peace negotiations however the insurgent movement has not attacked US or NATO troops, since signing the agreement. Moreover, US military commanders and NATO leaders have argued that the Taliban has not lived up to its part of the peace agreement, which includes a reduction in violence and a separation from al-Qaida and other terror groups.