Biden says India, Pakistan have stakes in Afghanistan’s stable future

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that India, Pakistan are among the countries that have stakes in the stable future of Afghanistan. He made the remark in a nationally televised speech from the White House. The President announced on Wednesday that the US will withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

Also read: Ex-President, Speaker and Secretary: See who backs Biden’s Afghan decision

“We will ask other countries in the region to do more to support Afghanistan, especially Pakistan, as well as Russia, China, India, and Turkey. They all have a significant stake in the stable future of Afghanistan,” Biden said in his speech. 

However, the US’ expectation from India vis-a-vis Afghanistan is currently unknown. 

The US currently has a little over 2,500 troops, which is far less than the 100,000-plus during the Barack Obama administration.

Speaking about the role of regional countries, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, “We will ask other countries to step up, whether that’s Pakistan, Russia, China, India, Turkey — countries in the region that certainly have a stake in stability.”

“Even as we are withdrawing our troops, we will continue to support diplomatic and humanitarian work,” she said about the troops withdrawal, reported PTI.

“We will continue to be engaged. This is the president’s assessment about whether having troops on the ground, a military presence in the same way — in a version of the same way it has been over the last two decades — is in our national interest. And he has made the decision it is not,” she added.

The US and the Taliban signed a landmark deal in Doha on February 29, 2020 to bring lasting peace in war-torn Afghanistan and allow US troops to return home from America’s longest war.

Under the US-Taliban pact signed in Doha, the US agreed to withdraw all its soldiers from Afghanistan in 14 months.

Also read: Rights of Afghan women will be protected, says US President Joe Biden

Since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America has spent more than $1 trillion in fighting and rebuilding in Afghanistan.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban insurgents and Afghan civilians.