The UK government said on Tuesday that India, as a vital ally in the region and head of the UN Sanctions Committee, will play a critical role in dealing with the emerging crisis in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab stated that the best way ahead would be to build an international “contact group” to ensure that Afghanistan is never used to undertake terrorist strikes against the United Kingdom or its allies.
“I believe it is critical in all of this to engage with a larger range of partners, not simply like-minded countries, but partners who can have maximum effect. And it will require engaging with China and Russia, as well as our closest partners like India, despite the difficulties,” Raab told the BBC.
After facing backlash for continuing with his summer holiday plans as the Afghan capital of Kabul collapsed over the weekend, the senior Cabinet minister returned to London on Monday ahead of an extraordinary Parliament session on Wednesday.
He confessed that the international world was “taken off guard” and that the Taliban’s size of advance “surprised us all.”
“Now it’s a question of how we utilize every lever at our disposal to try to limit the influence of the regime that takes power.
“Working in the UN Security Council as a permanent member, utilizing our G7 chair, working not just with our NATO allies but also with key neighbouring and regional players, including tough partners like China and Russia, as well as Pakistan; India will be very essential in this,” Raab said.
“Through concerted coordination on things like sanctions,” he added, referring to moves intended in dealing with the Taliban rule. India is a major player in the United Nations, as it chairs the Sanctions Committee.
“China is a tough partner for the United Kingdom, but we share a common interest in working together on Afghanistan as permanent members of the Security Council.”
According to the minister, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel are working on an unique relocation scheme for Afghanistan’s most vulnerable citizens. He stated that the program would be focused on assisting the most vulnerable, particularly women and girls.
Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after becoming a target for her advocating for girls’ education, has urged governments around the world to “open their borders” to Afghan refugees. Johnson is also aiming to use the UK’s G7 chair this week to press for a concerted international response to the growing crisis in Afghanistan, following the country’s Western-backed government’s swift collapse since the US troop withdrawal from the region.
As part of this focus, he has spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Downing Street has confirmed that he will speak with additional foreign leaders.
