The establishment of an international contact group on Afghanistan will allow for a stronger influence on the Taliban, said the country’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph on Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Western countries should cooperate with Russia, China and India to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and fight terrorism in the region, TASS reported.
“We are going to involve [in the Afghanistan talks] countries that can have a pacifying effect on the situation, such as Russia and China, however uncomfortable that may be. The UK has initiated a UN Security Council meeting this week with the prospect of forming a contact group on Afghanistan. We need to work with India, Pakistan, China and other countries that are concerned about terrorism and refugees if we want to have maximum calming effect on [the] Taliban”, – the British foreign secretary said.
Setting up an international contact group on Afghanistan, he said, would “give us a better opportunity to influence the Taliban and give them a better opportunity to convey their common messages. Raab added that such British initiatives were positively received at the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting held in a virtual format on August 19.