Afghan President Ashraf Ghani made the remarks with Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya in a telephone call on Friday–just days after the U.S. President Joe Biden announced he would withdraw the remaining American troops by September 11.
Both discussed Afghanistan’s peace process, the recent U.S. decision on troop withdrawal as well as continued support for and cooperation with Afghanistan, according to a presidential statement.
Spain’s Foreign Minister assured President Ghani of her country’s support to Afghanistan, adding Spain will assist the country in digitalization and urban development.
U.S. Commitment to Afghanistan despite Announcement of Troop Pullout
Earlier on Thursday, April 15, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kabul in an unannounced trip to assure Afghan officials that the United States remains committed to Afghanistan despite Biden’s announcement a day earlier that the 2,500 U.S. troops remaining in the country would be coming home by September 11.
President Ghani welcomed the U.S. decision on troop withdrawal, starting from May 1, and emphasized on countries’ joint fight against terrorism.
Now that U.S. forces leave Afghanistan, there are needs for discussions to open a new chapter of relations, said President Ghani in meeting with Secretary Blinken.
Mr. Blinken assured President Ghani that United States would remain committed to Afghanistan, saying Washington will “intensify” its diplomacy to do “everything we can” to advance efforts to secure a peace agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
“The partnership is changing, but the partnership is enduring,” Mr. Blinken assured President Ghani.
Mr. Blinken’s visit to Kabul comes a day after United States’ President Joe Biden said American forces would begin leaving the long-decades war-torn country on May 11 and finish it on September 11, 2021.
The Taliban Reaction
The Taliban, reacting to Biden’s decision on troop withdrawal, called for an “immediate” withdrawal of all foreign troops, blaming Washington for violating the February troop withdrawal agreement.
Posing an implicit threat, the group warned it would “take every necessary countermeasure, hence the American side will be held responsible for all future consequences.”
Under a peace deal Biden’s predecessor, former President Donald Trump, signed with the Taliban on late February last year, Washington and foreign allies were committed to leave Afghanistan by May 1. President Biden has now pushed back that date four months from the May deadline.
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