The Pentagon admitted on Monday that India previously played a positive role in Afghanistan. At the daily press briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said, ‘India has played a constructive role in Afghanistan in the past in terms of training and other infrastructure improvements.’
‘That kind of work and effort to help Afghanistan maintain stability and good governances is always welcome,’ he stated when asked about India-US cooperation on Afghanistan.
In response to a query, Kirby added that the US continues to hold discussions with Pakistani leadership about the safe havens that exist along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
‘We are mindful that those safe havens are only providing a source of more insecurity and more instability inside Afghanistan. We are not bashful about having that discussion with Pakistani leaders,’ he said.
‘We are also mindful that Pakistan and the Pakistani people also fall victim to terrorist activities that emanate from that region. So, we all have a shared sense of the importance of closing down those safe havens and not allowing them to be used by the Taliban or other terrorist networks to sew discord. And again, we’re having that conversation with the Pakistanis all the time,’ Kirby added.
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According to him, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin shares the concern of the international community about the security situation in Afghanistan, which is plainly not improving. ‘The secretary continues to believe that the Afghan Forces have the capability, they have the capacity to make a big difference on the battlefield,’ he asserted.
‘He has maintained that we will continue to support them with the authority where and when feasible, understanding that it is not always going to be feasible. But where and when feasible will continue to support them with airstrikes, for instance,’ Kirby furthermore stated.
‘The other thing is we’re focused as we should be given the President’s direction, we’re focused on completing the drawdown by the end of the month and by transitioning to a different bilateral relationship with Afghan Forces that will be one of support, financial and logistical maintenance support from outside the country. That’s the focus, that’s what we’re driving at,’ he added.
The Taliban, according to Kirby, has been making progress. ‘No question. The Afghans have capacity. They have the capability. They have a capable air force,’ he said.
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