US committed to pledges with Afghan govt, people: Blinken

KABUL (Pajhwok): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a surprise visit to Kabul on Thursday said American troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan did not mean weakening strategic relations between the two countries.

Blinken arrived in Kabul a day after US President Joe Biden in a press conference at the White House vowed to pull all US troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11 this year.

The president said the troop withdrawal process would begin on May 1 and continue until September 11 to end the two decades of war in Afghanistan.

NATO also declared that it would withdraw all its troops from the country based on the mentioned schedule.

A statement from the Presidential Palace received by Pajhwok Afghan News, said that President Ashraf Ghani met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who arrived in Kabul on a surprise visit late on Thursday.

Blinken praised the sacrifices of Afghan forces and said that withdrawal of the US forces did not mean weakening strategic relations between the two countries and his country was committed to pledges with the Afghan government and people.

The US will continue its diplomatic and humanitarian support to Afghanistan and the Afghan forces and would continue efforts for facilitating the Afghan peace process, the statement quoted Blinken as saying.

The statement said Ghani during the meeting thanked the US and allies for the two-decade support with Afghanistan and stressed on joint fight against terrorism.

“We respect the US decision regarding its troop pullout and the Afghan government will try to give needed cooperation in the transition process,” Ghani said.

He said that the Afghan forces were able to independently defend their country and the Afghan people were supporting them.

The statement said that both sides agreed to continue communication on managing the transition process and beginning a new phase of cooperation.

mds/ma

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