The G-7 countries are united on its stand on Taliban and they agreed that the legitimacy of any future government in Afghanistan depends on the armed group’s approach to prevent the war-torn nation from being used as a “base for terrorism”, US President Joe Biden has said.
Biden’s remarks on Tuesday came hours after a virtual meeting with the leaders of the G-7 bloc, the UN, NATO and the European Union. G-7 is an inter-governmental political forum of seven advanced nations comprising the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.
“The G-7 leaders and the leaders of the EU, NATO and the UN, all agreed that we will stand united in our approach to the Taliban,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
“We agreed that the legitimacy of any future government (in Afghanistan) depends on the approach it (Taliban) now takes to uphold international obligations, including to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a base for terrorism,” he said.
Biden said the G-7 countries have agreed that none of them are going to take the Taliban’s word for it.
“We’ll judge them by their actions, and we’ll stay in close coordination on any steps that we take moving forward in response to the Taliban’s behaviour,” he said.”
At the same time, we renewed our humanitarian commitment to the Afghan people and supported a proposal by the Secretary-General Guterres of the United Nations-led international response with unfettered humanitarian access in Afghanistan,” Biden said.
The G-7 countries also talked about their mutual obligation to support refugees and evacuees currently fleeing Afghanistan, he said, adding that the US will be a leader in these efforts.
“In short, we all, all of us, agreed today that we’re going to stand shoulder to shoulder with our closest partners to meet the current challenges we face in Afghanistan, just as we have for the past 20 years. We’re acting in consultation and cooperation with our closest friends and fellow democracies,” Biden said.
