Kirby’s stand was endorsed by the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that a "robust diplomatic support for the peace process focused on helping the parties to the conflict achieve a durable and just political settlement and permanent and comprehensive ceasefire that benefits all Afghans" is the need of the hour.

More importantly, the Talibans are yet to disavow the al-Qaeda. The United Nations too have reports that the Talibans keep up escalating attacks against Afghan security forces and civilians. Afghan Ambassador to the USA, Roya Rahmani, the first woman envoy from Afghanistan to the USA, in a well-written opinion piece, diplomatically succinct reminded that “the peace process is just that, a process, and we must have patience. But we must also remember how much is at stake in these negotiations. Every day, men, women and children live in fear of losing their rights, their democracy or even their very lives”

The Biden administration, she asserted, “will have to grapple with this stark reality as they formulate their policy in Afghanistan, and the deadline for making a decision is rapidly approaching. Given that the conditions have been repeatedly violated, the United States must now decide how to proceed” But she didn’t let the opportunity to banter the Pakistan-backed Taliban go. They are “marketing the U.S.-Taliban agreement as evidence of its victory over the United States”.

The US troops, remaining in Afghan soil, are on their guard, as expected. They conduct Special Operations missions with Afghan partner forces against al-Qaeda, the self-proclaimed Islamic State and the like. They keep training, advising and assisting Afghan security forces as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Operation Resolute Support. Actually there are more allied troops (8000-plus). While small in number, the U.S. personnel continue to provide important functions, including intelligence and air support for Afghan forces. The USA also keeps Afghanistan providing a critical $4.8 billion in assistance per year, accounting for 80 per cent of the Afghan government’s security spending.

There are three options before President Biden, as jotted down by Max Boot, a Council on Foreign Relations expert: one, withdraw U.S. forces by May 1, two, cite Taliban violations as justification for pulling out of the accord and maintaining an indefinite U.S. military presence or, three, ask the Taliban for an extension of the withdrawal deadline, citing the Taliban’s violations and delays in peace talks between the militant group and the Afghan government.

Boot has stated what the Biden administration would do, based on the thinking of the Afghanistan Study Group, co-chaired by retired General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “On the one hand, the Taliban have signalled publicly that if all international forces are not withdrawn by May 2021, as envisioned in the Doha agreement, they will resume their ‘jihad’ against the foreign presence and will withdraw from the peace process. On the other hand, a withdrawal in May under current conditions may lead to a collapse of the Afghan state and a possible renewed civil war.” The study group, Boot noted, warns that ‘a precipitous withdrawal could lead to a reconstitution of the terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland within eighteen months to three years’

Biden seems set to pick up the last option: extending the withdrawal deadline while intra-Afghan peace talks continue on order to secure the support of the Taliban at long last. Washington is in all probability will ask other countries, including China, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, to pressure the Taliban into amending the agreement.

Pakistan, in alignment with its traditional bad blood with Afghanistan continues to keep the Taliban in good humor. Rust am Shah Mohamed, ex-chief secretary, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and former ambassador, wrote bluntly in a post-editorial in Lahore-based morninger, Express Tribune, that given a state of anxiety among the Taliban leaders that the Biden administration might ‘review the deal unilaterally and thus practically make the agreement futile’, the Taliban believe the USA would ‘pressure Islamabad to use its leverage to make the Taliban agree to accepting the presence of foreign forces on Afghan soil for the forseeable future and also to agree to a ceasefire’ But the Pak diplomat realizes that the Taliban’s choice is limited. They are to realize that the new administration in Washington is” apparently not happy with the current approach to the conflict and wants to bring the Taliban under more pressure to secure a deal that is more acceptable. The forced reality before the Taliban made the latter “embarked upon a diplomatic offensive. The idea is to seek support of regional countries and take them into confidence on their stance on vital issues linked to the peace talks”. The Taliban are on the back foot as never before.

However, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad is to act as a post office although he has been the main negotiator in the entire peace process. The goals of the intra-Afghan talks are "a political road map and a comprehensive ceasefire,” he stated. (IPA Service)