G7 foreign ministers’ meeting over Afghanistan crisis
The G7 group of countries on Thursday called for a “united response” from the international community in response to the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. “The G7 Ministers call on the international community to come together with a shared mission to prevent the crisis in Afghanistan escalating,” a statement by the British foreign minister Dominic Raab, after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G7 nations, noted.
The meeting was chaired by Raab, in which the foreign ministers of member nations the US, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Canada, took part. Notably, most member nations of the G7 are involved in the evacuation of their embassy staff, diplomats and civilians in Afghanistan.
In the statement, the G7 foreign ministers said “The crisis in Afghanistan requires an international response including intensive engagement on the critical questions facing Afghanistan and the region: with the Afghans most affected, parties to the conflict, the UN Security Council, the G20, international donors, and with Afghanistan’s regional neighbours.”
The G7 leaders said they were “deeply concerned by reports of violent reprisals” and “discussed the importance of the international community providing safe and legal resettlement routes”.
They agreed “to seek to secure an inclusive political settlement, enable life-saving humanitarian assistance and support in Afghanistan and the region, and prevent any further loss of life in Afghanistan and to the international community from terrorism,” added the statement. Taliban fighters were at checkpoints around Kabul’s airport on Thursday as concerns built they were blocking Afghans from reaching evacuation flights.
Johnson himself spoke to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Wednesday, following calls with U.S. President Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron earlier in the week. Johnson and Draghi agreed to work together to tackle the “urgent” evacuation of their nationals as well as Afghans in need, including those who had assisted Western forces.The U.K. has so far committed to accepting 5,000 Afghan refugees this year and a total of up to 20,000 over five years.
