US Senator Lindsey Graham speaks during a news conference in Cairo on April 3, 2016. — Reuters
WASHINGTON: A senior US senator, Lindsey Graham, on Tuesday described American President Joe Biden’s reluctance to reach out to Prime Minister Imran Khan as ‘stunning,” and warned that ignoring Pakistan while withdrawing from Afghanistan could lead to a disaster.
“Stunning to hear that President Biden hasn’t reached out to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan regarding the US-Pakistan relationship and Afghanistan,” the South Carolina Republican wrote on his Twitter.
Senator Graham, who supports continued US engagement with Kabul and Islamabad, reminded President Biden that his planned withdrawal from Afghanistan requires Pakistan’s cooperation.
“How do we expect our withdrawal from Afghanistan to be effective without coordinating with Pakistan? Clearly the Biden Administration believes that our problems in Afghanistan are behind us,” he wrote.
The Republican lawmaker who also influenced the Trump administration’s Afghan policies warned that the Biden administration’s “decision to withdraw all forces and not stay engaged with Pakistan is a major disaster in the making, even worse than the blunder in Iraq.”
President Biden’s reluctance to engage with Pakistani leaders was highlighted in an interview the prime minister gave to an American television channel earlier this week when the interviewer asked him if he had spoken to Mr. Biden since he took office. “No, I have not,” the prime minister said.
“Is there a reason for that?” the interviewer asked. “Whenever he has time, he can speak to me. But now, clearly, he has other priorities,” the prime minister said.
Pakistan’s key role in a post-withdrawal Afghanistan echoed at several recent hearings in the US Congress as well. At one of these hearings, lawmakers also referred to a recent statement by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, stating that Pakistan will now play a decisive role in determining Afghanistan’s future and the United States will only have a minor role now in the country after the troop pullout.
Congressman Ted Lieu, a California Democrat and a former US Air Force colonel, asked if Pakistan was so important for the success of the Afghan peace process, why was it not being treated accordingly.
“I am just curious about what happened earlier this year when 40 world leaders were invited to the climate summit, including the leaders of India and Bangladesh. And the leader of Pakistan was not invited, even though Pakistan is the fifth most climate vulnerable country. Even though 35 of the 40 countries invited have populations smaller than Pakistan’s,” he said.
“It seems to be disrespectful to not have invited the Pakistani leader to this climate summit when the leaders of India and Bangladesh were invited.”
Taliban won’t allow Daesh to resurge in Afghanistan: FM Qureshi MultanForeign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the Afghan Taliban would not permit the Daesh aggressors to enter into their country, The News detailed Sunday. Tending to a question and answer session at Multan's Raza Hall on Saturday, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the Afghan powers had the ability to battle Daesh in Afghanistan. He kept up with that harmony in Afghanistan was important for local security and Pakistan was counseling different nations in the area to guarantee the turn of events, flourishing, and elevating of the conflict torn country. The unfamiliar priest said that he had advised the Chinese specialists over the Dasu fear based oppressor episode — which killed 13 individuals, including nine Chinese nationals — and the two nations have conceded to putting forth joint attempts to thwart damage missions against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is the underta...
UN chief urges India to end use of pellets against children in occupied Kashmir UN Secretary General António Guterres urged India on Monday to end the use of pellets against children in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and stop associating children with the security forces in any way. — AFP/File UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General António Guterres urged India on Monday to end the use of pellets against children in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and stop associating children with the security forces in any way. The UN chief made these observations in his latest report on “Children and Armed Conflict” presented in the UN Security Council on Monday for an open debate. The report does not clarify how India has been associating children with the security forces. The report revealed that last year, grave violations were committed against some 19,300 youngsters, particularly in war zones, such as Afghanistan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The disregard for children’s rights a...
LPaz: (Special Feature) The lowest deaths from heart disease are in Hong Kong, Japan and France and the highest deaths are in China. But scientists are surprised to learn that there is a tribe in the world whose people have the best minds and hearts without modern medicine. The tribe is Tasmania, located in Bolivia. The Tasmanian tribe has a population of 16,000. According to a 2017 study, these people have the best hearts. But research from 2021 has also shown that the brains of Tasmanians are among the healthiest brains in the world. The study looked at 746 men and women from the Tasmanian tribe, ranging in age from 40 to 96. His brain was CT scanned. Their brains were compared to those in Germany, the United States and the Netherlands. Expert research confirmed the 2017 study. It also found that middle-aged and older people had smaller brains than the West. Although the brain was normal in other people, the brain may be smaller due to old age. According to Andre Erie Mia, a r...
Comments
Post a Comment