By ANI
LONDON: The UK government on Sunday said in an official statement that it does not support anyone seeking to achieve political change through violence in Afghanistan and condemns terrorist attacks of all kinds in the country.
Hugo Shorter, Charge d’Affaires at the UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha said, “The UK does not support anyone, including Afghan nationals, seeking to achieve political change through violence, or any activity inciting violence for political purposes, in Afghanistan, and will not allow UK soil to be used to plan or prepare it, and we strongly discourage others from doing so.”
“Violence of any kind is not in Afghanistan’s interests, nor the international community’s, and we deplore terrorist attacks of all kinds,” he added.
To promote peace and stability, deliver essential humanitarian support to the Afghan people, and to address shared concerns on security, there is no alternative to engaging pragmatically with the current administration of Afghanistan, and that is what we are doing, read the press release quoting Shorter as saying.
Earlier, the UK’s former chief of defence David Richards said that the West will recognize the Taliban sooner or later and urged governments to be “magnanimous in defeat.”
“I think the West is going to end up recognizing the Taliban government. If that’s the case, then we’d better get on with it quicker, sooner rather than later. There’s a great phrase to be magnanimous in victory. I think this is an occasion for us to be magnanimous in defeat,” said Richards to a UK-based media, reported The Khaama Press.Richards warned that it was time to accept that the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan has been lost and that the United States must start working with the new leadership for the sake of the Afghan people.
The call for recognizing the Taliban comes as no country has yet come forward and the country is experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis over half of the population in need of assistance and eight million more starving.
Taliban, who are desperate to seek international recognition, and have time and again been reminded that respect for women and human rights, establishing an inclusive government, and not allowing Afghanistan to become a safe haven of terrorism are the preconditions for the recognition set by the international community.
