This is an archive article published on September 3, 2021

World united in what they expect Taliban to do for recognition in Afghanistan: White House

"The world is united in what they expect the Taliban to do, which is allow people who want to depart the country to depart. And China has to decide where they are in that effort," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki. (AP Photo/File)

3 min readWashingtonSep 3, 2021 09:36 AM IST First published on: Sep 3, 2021 at 09:36 AM IST

The world is united in what they expect the Taliban to do to get recognition in Afghanistan from the international community, the White House said noting that it is for China to decide where it would like to stand on the situation.

“The world is united in what they expect the Taliban to do, which is allow people who want to depart the country to depart. And China has to decide where they are in that effort,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.

United States President Joe Biden, she said, has said many times that there are a few countries that wanted the US to stay in Afghanistan more than China and Russia because it would have tied up American owned resources, the US military and its financial assets and options.

“Our leverage over the Taliban is a range of things. I mean, one is, of course, access to the global marketplace, which is not just China. It is a range of money that is in the New York Federal Reserve. That was the Afghan government’s money that they currently don’t have access to,” she said.

The US is working with a coalition of 100 countries around the world that have signed this statement on what their expectations are of the Taliban, she said, adding that the US is working with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Responding to a question, the White House Press Secretary ruled out lifting sanctions against the Taliban.

“No one should assess that we are currently considering an easing of sanctions on the Taliban. That is not actively being discussed or pursued. We’ve not reduced sanctions, pressure on the Taliban leaders or the significant restrictions on their access to the international financial system,” she said.

“We will judge, and we want to make this very clear, we are going to judge the Taliban by their actions and will stay in close coordination with the international community on any steps that we take moving forward. Now at the same time, we also want to ensure there is assistance to the Afghan people: humanitarian assistance and other assistance to keep them afloat and make sure we provide that from the international community at this point in time,” Psaki said.

She reiterated that the Taliban is not a good actor. “No one is saying from the federal government, no one, the president, secretary of defense, no one from the intelligence community, that the Taliban are good actors. We are not saying that. That is one of the reasons we are being so clear that we are not rushing to recognition,” she said.

“We will be watching clearly. We have a range of leverage at our disposal, including access to the global marketplace. And, of course, we will be assessing. It’s, of course, based on how they treat individuals in the country, how they treat women, whether they let people who want to leave the country leave,” Psaki said.