In sync with India on Af terror concerns: US
NEW DELHI: The US will have India’s security concerns “front and centre” in its approach towards Afghanistan and the Taliban setup in Kabul will have to do more if it wants to gain legitimacy, US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman said on Wednesday.
Briefing reporters after wideranging talks with foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and national security adviser Ajit Doval, Sherman said the US has adopted a three-pronged approach of competing, challenging and cooperating to deal with China.
Sherman’s remarks on the US approach to Afghanistan came against the backdrop of comments by external affairs minister S Jaishankar last week that the American side had not kept India fully in the loop regarding the peace deal concluded with the Taliban last year.
“We understand India’s concern about terrorism spilling over not only into India, but to the entire region [from Afghanistan]...Our partnership on counterterrorism with India is part of that strong press to make sure that India’s security is first and foremost in our minds,” she said.
“We will always have India’s security front and centre in our considerations of how the US proceeds,” she added.
The US and India, Sherman said, are “absolutely of one mind and one approach when it comes to Afghanistan”.
President Joe Biden, secretary of state Antony Blinken and all US departments and agencies have put together a “very robust programme” of over the horizon efforts to deal with the counterterrorism challenges emanating from Afghanistan, she said. Cooperation in this area will also be part of the meeting of the India-US joint working group on counter-terrorism during October 26-28 and a homeland security dialogue.
Sherman said India is part of a group of like-minded countries that currently have a weekly video teleconference for sharing ideas and perspectives on approaching the Taliban. She also said the Taliban has to do much more if it wants legitimacy from the world community.
“We have laid out together, and strongly supported by the international community, exactly the kind of parameters that India has laid out – which is that the Taliban must create an inclusive government, that they must ensure that Afghanistan not be a safe haven for terrorists, that the Taliban allow the safe and orderly travel of people who wish to relocate, that they subscribe to human rights, including the rights of women, girls and minorities, that indeed there not be reprisals or revenge, that this be a functioning government that lives by universal values in the universal declaration of human rights and in the international rules-based order,” Sherman said.
“We believe that the Taliban must act, not just speak words. We have not seen them follow through on some of the things they have said verbally. It appears that their minds change on a daily basis, and indeed we have to see actions,” she added.
“I believe...none of us are in a rush for recognition, let alone even legitimacy. We have to see actions, not just words.”
People familiar with developments said the Indian side raised its concerns regarding Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and terrorism and found a “lot of meeting of minds”. The feeling on the Indian side is that the US is “very far away” from granting any sort of recognition to the Taliban.
The Indian side also conveyed its concerns about the movement of terror groups. The US side was clear that there is no fresh hyphenation of the relations with India and Pakistan, the people said.
Responding to a question on how the US will respond to the
challenges related to China, Sherman said her country has a “very complex relationship” with China that falls into three pathways.
“One, we know that China will be a major competitor with the US in economics and in emerging tech and in the future going forward. We are happy to compete with China as long as there is a level playing field,” she said.
The US trade representative’s planned talks with China are aimed at taking care of market access, ensuring a level playing field and working according to the rules.
“The irony in all of this is that China has grown and developed because of that international rules-based order and now they want to change it,” Sherman said.
“Secondly, we will challenge China where we must. We want to make sure there is a free, open and inter-connected Indo-Pacific, as does India. That means the PRC doesn’t get to decide who gets to use those waterways and who doesn’t, what belongs to the international community and what they claim belongs to them,” she said.