Taliban need to fulfil pledges for recognition: US

WASHINGTON: The US said on Friday that it expects “deeds, not words” and “follow through” on pledges by the Taliban before it could recognise the group diplomatically.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, state department spokesperson Ned Price said the Taliban have made clear that “they would like to see an American diplomatic presence remain” in Afghanistan.

They “have been quite clear and quite open in the fact that they would like other countries to retain their diplomatic missions”, he said, adding that a Taliban spokesperson had said the other day that “we appreciate the embassies that remain open and didn’t close. We assure them of their safety and protection”.

Price said the US is yet to take a call on the issue, but “it is something we are actively discussing, both with our partners and thinking about here as well”.

“We are not prepared to answer them today, precisely because we have heard a range of statements from the Taliban.

Some of them have been positive, some of them have been constructive, but ultimately what we will be looking for, what our international partners will be looking for are deeds, not words,” he said.

“What we are going to be focused on in questions of any future diplomatic presence, any questions of recognition, any questions of assistance is followthrough - again, deeds, not words,” Price asserted.

He said though the Taliban have pledged publicly to provide safety and protection to the embassies, the US and its allies will look for an indication that “there is a substance, that there is merit to those statements, an indication that there will be follow-through before we make any such decisions”.

Replying to a question on if the Taliban will get the Afghanistan seat at the UN, Price said the US is not prepared to answer these questions yet.