The U.S President, Joe Biden reaffirmed the United States’ long-term commitment to the Afghan people, particularly Afghan women, girls, and minorities, through civilian, development, and humanitarian aid, as well as security assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, while meeting with the Afghan leaders Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah in the White House on Friday.
President Joe Biden has told both Ghani and Abdullah that the US military withdrawal will not be prolonged.
The US President Biden called President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah “two old friends” and reaffirmed that “Our troops may be leaving, but support for Afghanistan is not ending”. However, he also stated that it was time for the US military to take a step back.
This comes just months after US officials pressured president Ghani to step down for a transitional administration under a draft political deal circulated in a failed attempt to break the deadlock in peace talks.
Biden has requested Congress to approve $3.3 billion in security aid for Afghanistan next year, and he is sending 3 million vaccine doses to the country to aid in the fight against Covid-19.
The White House official readout of US president Biden meeting with President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah states that they acknowledged that Afghan leaders must work together for peace and stability, and President Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to fully support intra-Afghan negotiations. It further notes that “the strong bilateral partnership (between US and Afghanistan) will continue.
President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah also met Nancy Pelosi, the speaker for US House of Representatives, Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defense, Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, the families of those US forces who paid the ultimate sacrifices in Afghanistan, veteran-Afghanistan friends, members of Congress, senators, and other US senior officials.
