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Speaking from an undisclosed location to Padma Rao Sundarji for The Times of India, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Ashraf Haidari slammed US President Joe Biden’s decision to freeze Afghanistan’s assets worth US $7 billion, the impoverished condition of his country’s diplomats in Washington, DC and urged India to help stranded Afghan students return to their studies in India. He also underscored the Taliban’s continuing support of al-Qaida, Islamic State and more than a dozen other terror groups, many targeting India, in the Af-Pak region.
Q: It’s been six months since the US withdrew from your country and allowed the US-supported Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to fall to the Taliban. Since then, the group listed as a terror organization by most countries has reversed much of the progress made in previous years, like women’s rights. Meanwhile, international sanctions slammed on the Taliban are causing near starvation among Afghanistan’s 40 million citizens. Then last week, US President Joe Biden froze $7 billion worth of assets belonging to the Afghan people, even as a US daily reported on the impoverished condition of unpaid Afghan diplomats at your embassy in Washington, DC. How can diplomats like you continue to represent Afghanistan, given all these devastating changes?
A: The sixty Afghan missions overseas, still operate under the flag of our Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which was toppled by the Taliban. We represent, promote, advocate for and defend the constitution of Afghanistan based on Islam, the Afghan culture, and our obligations under international laws. There is no communication at all between any of us and the Taliban. As a group, we reject the Taliban and will not talk to them, unless they change. And the Taliban know that most countries – except a few, like Pakistan -will not accept envoys sent by them. As for the diplomats in Washington, DC: Just like all other Afghans, they too, are affected by the colossal betrayal of our developing democracy by some of our strongest and closest allies, especially the United States and the Biden administration. The US withdrew unilaterally and unconditionally from Afghanistan. It did so against the advice of military generals and civilians. Even US diplomats formerly based in Afghanistan, called on President Biden days before the collapse of Kabul and advised him to make a course correction to save the Islamic republic. They warned him that the Taliban is being supported by ‘resourceful’ states like Pakistan, to topple our democracy. But unfortunately, the President had made up his mind. Much to their credit, courage and determination, my colleagues at our embassy in Washington, DC have continued their consular services for six months, without being paid. They are now in a state of limbo. Asylum must be granted to them immediately. All missions, including mine in Sri Lanka, have the same financial problems, because we can only rely on the revenues that were already with us when the Taliban took over. Now, nobody even travels to and from Afghanistan anymore. Global sanctions, too, have affected many of our embassies.
Q: All Afghan diplomats openly slam the ‘illegitimate” Taliban. Surely that’s risky for your own lives?
A: Not in the US, India or Sri Lanka. But sure, if our diplomats in Washington are not granted refugee status and deported, of course they would be risking their lives by returning to Afghanistan. Look at what is happening to both civilians and former military officers. The Taliban is making them ‘disappear’ every single day. If the Taliban is picking up even ordinary journalists, of course they’d go after a former Afghan diplomat! Under the Geneva Convention 1951, we are automatically refugees, when we give up diplomatic status and apply for asylum. Signatory countries can’t deny that fact. As for myself, look, I am committed to serving my country. I didn’t join the foreign service to fear threats. And there is always danger. You could get up on a stage to speak and be shot dead, this has happened even in developed countries. Host countries do take protective measures and we do have security round the clock. More importantly: Neither I, nor other Afghan diplomats, are saying something that the Taliban disagree with. The Taliban recently met with western diplomats in Doha, one of whom later tweeted that the Taliban had accepted the constitution of Afghanistan, with certain amendments. They apparently also said that they would open schools and universities, and about bringing prosperity, peace and other good things to Afghanistan. However, all this is not going to happen merely by saying so.
Q: India has not recognised, nor condemned the Taliban, but ‘engaged’ it. New Delhi will soon ship 50,000 mega tonnes (MT) of wheat to Afghanistan. The Taliban may have shown its appreciation for India’s help but is not past silly jingoism either. It named a military unit ‘Panipat’, after a battle in which an Indian army was defeated by an Afghan king in the 18th century. You have served in India and know its foreign and defence policy well. Could India do more to checkmate the Taliban?
A: There’s nothing wrong with engaging the Taliban, in order to help the people of Afghanistan. India and others have to talk to the Taliban to get badly needed aid to the people. However, it is the Taliban that has brought about this widening humanitarian crisis in my country. More than 2 million Afghans need relief aid, 9 million are facing a famine, 3 million children are acutely malnourished. India is focussing on the humanitarian aspect most of all, and we greatly appreciate that. In fact, India has been consistently sharing bread with the people of Afghanistan. Where we wish India could do more, is for Afghan students facing challenges across India. They can’t return home. They may have run out of money. Even some of our cadets who were in India on training when the Taliban took over, are more or less in a state of limbo, and have not been helped in a way they expected. There are also a large number of our students enrolled at Indian institutions, who are stranded in Kabul. They recently met our former president Hamid Karzai and appealed to him to use his contacts in India to help them out. I tweeted this appeal and tagged PM Narendra Modi and minister for external affairs, S Jaishankar too. I requested them to make an exception and get these students back to their institutions, so they can continue their education. Governments – and even the Taliban – have come and gone. But the relationship between Afghanistan and India is deep. India ranks very high in Afghan public opinion. It is the country most loved in the neighbourhood.
Q: But the Taliban shelters Pakistan-sponsored, anti-India terror groups on your soil. It also tolerates such terror groups operating from the Af-Pak border areas. In addition to this menace, India faces territorial aggression from Pakistan’s closest ally, China, too. Together, both those countries have recognized the Taliban. How can India throw caution to the winds and open its borders more liberally, when terrorists could easily pose as civilians to infiltrate India?
A: Everyone knows about the Taliban’s relationship to al-Qaida and more than half a dozen other regional terror groups, including those in Pakistan. The Taliban serve as an operational umbrella for the Islamic State (ISIS). The Taliban very much share ideology with IS and have enabled the terror outfit to grow and expand in Afghanistan. That is precisely why we call on our immediate neighbourhood -India, Iran, China and Russia to help. Three are full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and share very common interests, as far as eradicating terrorism, separatism and drugs emanating from Afghanistan, is concerned. Each time these countries get together, these are the key topics for discussion. But when it comes to action, nobody delivers. They should really walk the talk. Even as we speak, the Taliban are sheltering Chinese Uighur separatists of the militant East Turkistan Islamic Movement in north-eastern Afghanistan. Yes, China may have engaged with the Taliban more than others. But China is very concerned about the Taliban being an extremist group that is sheltering ETIM.
Q: Ahmed Masood of the National Resistance Front in the Panjshir Valley was a ray of hope that there would be stiff resistance, as the Taliban advanced towards Kabul last year. Today, nobody knows where he is. Is there any resistance left in Afghanistan? Or, are there attempts to form an exile government, at the least?
A: Afghan people demonstrate every single day that they oppose the Taliban! Why do you think thousands of Afghans are leaving the country every day? Look at pictures from Kabul. You will see two lines of people waiting. One for loaves of bread to survive another day, the other for getting a passport to leave the country. Can they fight the Taliban? How? If India is not stepping up to help? If the US no longer cares about democracy and human rights -all values its foreign policy traditionally espouses – being in place in Afghanistan? If Europe focuses only on its own key issues ? What can Afghans do? And let me make one thing clear: We Afghans have done more than a lion’s share to defend the region and the rest of the world. Remember, we lost more than 70,000 Afghan forces over the past 20 years. Thousands were badly wounded. Today, nobody cares about them. They are starving and when they are found by the Taliban, they are being tortured. As for Massoud, I have no idea where he is. There are rumours that he may be in Iran, Tajikistan or even in Afghanistan. I don’t know whether Massoud has any tangible support – that’s what most Afghans are wondering too. Probably not, otherwise the movement against the Taliban would have grown more quickly. Whoever takes the lead: there must be a commitment to resist, but also the flexibility to engage in talks with the Taliban. We were hoping that a government-in-exile would shape up. But that hasn’t happened. Let’s wait and see.
Q: It’s been six months since the US withdrew from your country and allowed the US-supported Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to fall to the Taliban. Since then, the group listed as a terror organization by most countries has reversed much of the progress made in previous years, like women’s rights. Meanwhile, international sanctions slammed on the Taliban are causing near starvation among Afghanistan’s 40 million citizens. Then last week, US President Joe Biden froze $7 billion worth of assets belonging to the Afghan people, even as a US daily reported on the impoverished condition of unpaid Afghan diplomats at your embassy in Washington, DC. How can diplomats like you continue to represent Afghanistan, given all these devastating changes?
A: The sixty Afghan missions overseas, still operate under the flag of our Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which was toppled by the Taliban. We represent, promote, advocate for and defend the constitution of Afghanistan based on Islam, the Afghan culture, and our obligations under international laws. There is no communication at all between any of us and the Taliban. As a group, we reject the Taliban and will not talk to them, unless they change. And the Taliban know that most countries – except a few, like Pakistan -will not accept envoys sent by them. As for the diplomats in Washington, DC: Just like all other Afghans, they too, are affected by the colossal betrayal of our developing democracy by some of our strongest and closest allies, especially the United States and the Biden administration. The US withdrew unilaterally and unconditionally from Afghanistan. It did so against the advice of military generals and civilians. Even US diplomats formerly based in Afghanistan, called on President Biden days before the collapse of Kabul and advised him to make a course correction to save the Islamic republic. They warned him that the Taliban is being supported by ‘resourceful’ states like Pakistan, to topple our democracy. But unfortunately, the President had made up his mind. Much to their credit, courage and determination, my colleagues at our embassy in Washington, DC have continued their consular services for six months, without being paid. They are now in a state of limbo. Asylum must be granted to them immediately. All missions, including mine in Sri Lanka, have the same financial problems, because we can only rely on the revenues that were already with us when the Taliban took over. Now, nobody even travels to and from Afghanistan anymore. Global sanctions, too, have affected many of our embassies.
Q: All Afghan diplomats openly slam the ‘illegitimate” Taliban. Surely that’s risky for your own lives?
A: Not in the US, India or Sri Lanka. But sure, if our diplomats in Washington are not granted refugee status and deported, of course they would be risking their lives by returning to Afghanistan. Look at what is happening to both civilians and former military officers. The Taliban is making them ‘disappear’ every single day. If the Taliban is picking up even ordinary journalists, of course they’d go after a former Afghan diplomat! Under the Geneva Convention 1951, we are automatically refugees, when we give up diplomatic status and apply for asylum. Signatory countries can’t deny that fact. As for myself, look, I am committed to serving my country. I didn’t join the foreign service to fear threats. And there is always danger. You could get up on a stage to speak and be shot dead, this has happened even in developed countries. Host countries do take protective measures and we do have security round the clock. More importantly: Neither I, nor other Afghan diplomats, are saying something that the Taliban disagree with. The Taliban recently met with western diplomats in Doha, one of whom later tweeted that the Taliban had accepted the constitution of Afghanistan, with certain amendments. They apparently also said that they would open schools and universities, and about bringing prosperity, peace and other good things to Afghanistan. However, all this is not going to happen merely by saying so.
Q: India has not recognised, nor condemned the Taliban, but ‘engaged’ it. New Delhi will soon ship 50,000 mega tonnes (MT) of wheat to Afghanistan. The Taliban may have shown its appreciation for India’s help but is not past silly jingoism either. It named a military unit ‘Panipat’, after a battle in which an Indian army was defeated by an Afghan king in the 18th century. You have served in India and know its foreign and defence policy well. Could India do more to checkmate the Taliban?
A: There’s nothing wrong with engaging the Taliban, in order to help the people of Afghanistan. India and others have to talk to the Taliban to get badly needed aid to the people. However, it is the Taliban that has brought about this widening humanitarian crisis in my country. More than 2 million Afghans need relief aid, 9 million are facing a famine, 3 million children are acutely malnourished. India is focussing on the humanitarian aspect most of all, and we greatly appreciate that. In fact, India has been consistently sharing bread with the people of Afghanistan. Where we wish India could do more, is for Afghan students facing challenges across India. They can’t return home. They may have run out of money. Even some of our cadets who were in India on training when the Taliban took over, are more or less in a state of limbo, and have not been helped in a way they expected. There are also a large number of our students enrolled at Indian institutions, who are stranded in Kabul. They recently met our former president Hamid Karzai and appealed to him to use his contacts in India to help them out. I tweeted this appeal and tagged PM Narendra Modi and minister for external affairs, S Jaishankar too. I requested them to make an exception and get these students back to their institutions, so they can continue their education. Governments – and even the Taliban – have come and gone. But the relationship between Afghanistan and India is deep. India ranks very high in Afghan public opinion. It is the country most loved in the neighbourhood.
Q: But the Taliban shelters Pakistan-sponsored, anti-India terror groups on your soil. It also tolerates such terror groups operating from the Af-Pak border areas. In addition to this menace, India faces territorial aggression from Pakistan’s closest ally, China, too. Together, both those countries have recognized the Taliban. How can India throw caution to the winds and open its borders more liberally, when terrorists could easily pose as civilians to infiltrate India?
A: Everyone knows about the Taliban’s relationship to al-Qaida and more than half a dozen other regional terror groups, including those in Pakistan. The Taliban serve as an operational umbrella for the Islamic State (ISIS). The Taliban very much share ideology with IS and have enabled the terror outfit to grow and expand in Afghanistan. That is precisely why we call on our immediate neighbourhood -India, Iran, China and Russia to help. Three are full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and share very common interests, as far as eradicating terrorism, separatism and drugs emanating from Afghanistan, is concerned. Each time these countries get together, these are the key topics for discussion. But when it comes to action, nobody delivers. They should really walk the talk. Even as we speak, the Taliban are sheltering Chinese Uighur separatists of the militant East Turkistan Islamic Movement in north-eastern Afghanistan. Yes, China may have engaged with the Taliban more than others. But China is very concerned about the Taliban being an extremist group that is sheltering ETIM.
Q: Ahmed Masood of the National Resistance Front in the Panjshir Valley was a ray of hope that there would be stiff resistance, as the Taliban advanced towards Kabul last year. Today, nobody knows where he is. Is there any resistance left in Afghanistan? Or, are there attempts to form an exile government, at the least?
A: Afghan people demonstrate every single day that they oppose the Taliban! Why do you think thousands of Afghans are leaving the country every day? Look at pictures from Kabul. You will see two lines of people waiting. One for loaves of bread to survive another day, the other for getting a passport to leave the country. Can they fight the Taliban? How? If India is not stepping up to help? If the US no longer cares about democracy and human rights -all values its foreign policy traditionally espouses – being in place in Afghanistan? If Europe focuses only on its own key issues ? What can Afghans do? And let me make one thing clear: We Afghans have done more than a lion’s share to defend the region and the rest of the world. Remember, we lost more than 70,000 Afghan forces over the past 20 years. Thousands were badly wounded. Today, nobody cares about them. They are starving and when they are found by the Taliban, they are being tortured. As for Massoud, I have no idea where he is. There are rumours that he may be in Iran, Tajikistan or even in Afghanistan. I don’t know whether Massoud has any tangible support – that’s what most Afghans are wondering too. Probably not, otherwise the movement against the Taliban would have grown more quickly. Whoever takes the lead: there must be a commitment to resist, but also the flexibility to engage in talks with the Taliban. We were hoping that a government-in-exile would shape up. But that hasn’t happened. Let’s wait and see.
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