The assassination of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor in a drone strike last month did not indicate a change in the U.S strategy of supporting negotiations with the outfit, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) Richard Olson has said.
Mr. Olson said if the Taliban were planning to wait out for the disengagement of the U.S from Afghanistan they would be mistaken. Mr. Olson was participating in a discussion at the Atlantic Council.
“Afghanistan’s security is our security. And the security of all our partners,” he said, indicating that the U.S would be cautious about troops reductions in Afghanistan. Even as the Obama administration is rethinking its earlier plan for troop reduction from 9800 to 5500 by the end of the year, Mr. Olson said the NATO summit next month in Warsaw will demonstrate the commitment of the US and allies to secure the strife-torn country.
He said the U.S would be committing three billion dollars annually until 2020 for the security and reconstruction of Afghanistan. "This is an investment in our own security," he said. Mr. Olson said while the U.S recognised that this support could not be indefinite, an abrupt and immediate disengagement was not an option.
“Taliban should not keep away from talks hoping that the U.S is going to abandon Afghanistan. They should not suspect the genuineness of our support for talks either. We are for talks with Taliban, without any preconditions,” Mr. Olson said.
He admitted that there was no clarity on what the Taliban wants, and said the U.S expected all members of the four country group leading the initiative – China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S - to use their leverage and influence over Taliban to bring them to the table.
The ambassador said India and Iran, two countries that have stakes in the future of Afghanistan, would be included in the peace efforts at a later stage. He said the priority now was to get the talks started.
“India has been a supportive partner. Pakistan has concerns about Indian involvement, but Pakistan hugely exaggerates the Indian influence in Afghanistan,” he said.
