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Afghanistan: All stories
This Week in AsiaPolitics

US, India urge Taliban to uphold peace in Afghanistan, as they pledge Quad cooperation on vaccines

  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed security concerns with counterpart S. Jaishankar and Indian PM Narendra Modi as China hosted a Taliban delegation
  • Blinken also spoke with a representative of the Dalai Lama as Washington steps up engagement with the Tibetan refugee community, in a move likely to irk Beijing

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India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar (right) welcomes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India. Photo: AP
Kunal Purohit
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday warned that Afghanistan would become a “pariah state” if the Taliban took control by force, after he met with India’s premier and top diplomat on the same day a delegation from the insurgent group visited China for talks with its foreign minister.
“An Afghanistan that does not respect the rights of its people, an Afghanistan that commits atrocities against its own people would become a pariah state,” Blinken told reporters in India, where he is on his first official visit.

The instability resulting from advances the Taliban has made in snatching away vast swathes of territory from the Afghan government’s control, following the withdrawal of American troops by September, has alarmed the international community.

The United States and India on Wednesday tried to project a united front on the issue, insisting on a “peaceful resolution” of the differences between the government in Kabul and the Taliban, as Blinken met with his counterpart, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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US, India urge Taliban to uphold peace in Afghanistan, as they pledge Quad cooperation on vaccines

US, India urge Taliban to uphold peace in Afghanistan, as they pledge Quad cooperation on vaccines

Washington’s top diplomat also met a representative of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, as part of a meeting with civil society groups – a move that is likely to irk Beijing. The US has in recent times rallied allies to scrutinise China on its human rights record, giving the Tibetan government in exile a boost in international support.

In the Chinese city of Tianjin, the Taliban’s leadership – led by co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar – met with foreign minister Wang Yi to assure China that it would not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for plotting against another country.

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