West is moving too slowly in engaging with Taliban, says US Representative Peter

KABUL: US Representative from Western Michigan, Peter Meijer said that the Western countries and America particularly are moving too slowly in engaging with the Afghanistan interim government.

During an interview with ToloNews, Meijer said, "My concern and my criticism of a lot of international engagement, especially from the American side, is it is too slow, this is a moment of change, this is a moment of opportunity, but it is also a moment that if we go down the pathways of the past if we fall back into those old habits and trends of mistrust, if we sacrifice and disregard a lot of the improvements and trust that have been built over the past year, the security cooperation we saw —I saw first hand—at Kabul airport during the US withdrawal." "I think we have a lot of strong foundations to start to build upon and we cannot wait for the two or three decades it took for the US—and to give an example: Vietnam— to build a strong relationship. We have to make sure we are not letting the future get hung up by the concerns of the past," he added

Talking about Afghanistan politics, a US Representative said that the Islamic Emirate is the only government and America accepts and deals with that reality.

He further added that there are cultural differences between western countries and Afghanistan and one cannot impose their values, ToloNews reported.

"It also is important that the Islamic Emirate recognize the desires and the wishes of its own citizens to pursue what is best for their futures," Meijer said.

Meijer also noted that there would be grave consequences if small differences get in the way and expectations on both sides are not met.

"Those nations who set conditions for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which it should accept, the Islamic Emirate is also looking for a way to do something to meet their conditions, which at least does not conflict with the Islamic laws and Afghan customs and traditions," ToloNews quoted political analyst Mohammad Nasir Haqqani as saying. (ANI)

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