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Biden mentions Afghanistan withdrawal during end-of-term speech
US President Joe Biden raised the issue of his decision to end American military presence in Afghanistan during an end-of-term foreign policy speech Monday, saying he “saw no reason to keep thousands of servicemen” there.
“Today, I can also report to the American people [as] the first president in decades who’s not leaving a war in Afghanistan to his successor,” the 82-year-old said, adding that “the primary objective of war had been accomplished” when SEAL Team Six took out Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden during a daring Pakistan raid in 2011, the New York Post reported.
“I believe[d] that going forward, the primary threat of Al Qaeda would no longer be emanating from Afghanistan, but from elsewhere, and so we did not need to station sizeable number[s] of American forces in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that he “had a choice” on whether to keep the troops there.
“In my view, it was time to end the war and bring our troops home, and we did.”
The US withdrew its final soldiers at the end of August 2021, which resulted in the immediate collapse of the White House-backed republic government and ushered in the Islamic Emirate as the new rulers.
President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, January 20.
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EU launches 36 million euros project to support displaced Afghans
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the European Union (EU) have signed a new agreement euros to continue to support displaced Afghans and host communities in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and countries in Central Asia.
With substantial EU funding of EUR 36 million, hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees, returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) will benefit from essential protection, livelihood opportunities, and other basic services, EU said in a statement.
“The EU will continue our strong support to Afghans on the move. This new contribution to UNHCR is part of a bigger EU effort in the area of migration supporting opportunities and essential services to displaced women, men, children inside Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries. Our assistance will contribute to improve living conditions of individuals and broader communities,” Veronika Boskovic Pohar, Chargée d’affaires of Delegation of the European Union to Afghanistan, said.
UNHCR’s Representative in Afghanistan, Arafat Jamal said: “This longstanding partnership with the European Union marks a significant step forward in our efforts to support Afghan returnees and refugees in host countries. Through these initiatives, we aim to provide not only life-saving assistance but also the tools needed for displaced populations to rebuild their lives and contribute to their communities.”
Kicking off in January 2025, the three-year programme will run through December 2027, focusing on long-term recovery and resilience.
Afghans represent one of the world’s largest refugee populations, with 2.6 million registered globally. Of these some 2.2 million are in Iran and Pakistan. Additionally, some 3.2 million people remain internally displaced within Afghanistan and hundreds of thousands have returned from neighbouring countries since September 2023.
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Pezeshkian, Putin stress importance of maintaining peace and stability in Afghanistan
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, discussed the situation in Afghanistan among other issues during their meeting in Moscow on Friday.
"Given the current regional situation, enhancing the level of security cooperation on issues such as combating extremism, terrorism and organized violence were emphasized. Also there was exchange of views on a wide range of regional issues, including the Middle East and the Caucasus, and the importance of maintaining peace and stability in Afghanistan was stressed," Pezeshkian said in a joint press conference with Putin.
Putin and Pezeshkian deepened military ties between their countries on Friday by signing a 20-year strategic partnership.
Under the agreement, Russia and Iran will boost cooperation in a range of areas including their security services, military drills, warship port visits and joint officer training.
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India says it seeks to strengthen relationship with Afghanistan
Indian foreign ministry said on Friday that New Delhi seeks to strengthen its relationship with the people of Afghanistan.
The remarks come after India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met with acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Dubai last week.
Indian foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, told reporters that it was Delhi’s highest level of engagement with the IEA since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
“We have clearly spelled out that we want to do more to offer humanitarian assistance and also to engage with the people of Afghanistan on development cooperation, and both these counts we want to continue to build on what we are doing there to strengthen our long-standing relationship with the people of Afghanistan,” Jaiswal said.
He said that India also wants to do more on sports.
“You would have seen there are several cricket players from Afghanistan who play here in IPL, Greater Noida or one of the places also happen to be the home ground,” he said.
On the meeting in Dubai, IEA’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said that they saw India as a “significant regional and economic partner.”
It said that the meeting discussed expanding relations with Afghanistan and boosting trade through Chabahar Port in Iran.
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