China’s influence and the situation in Afghanistan, the axes of the US Secretary of State’s trip to India and Kuwait

The US Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, will travel to India and Kuwait next week to hold talks on China, the coronavirus and Afghanistan, the State Department reported on Friday.

The trip takes place in a As Joe Biden’s administration tries to strengthen US leadership in vaccinating the world against COVID-19, tries to counter China’s growing assertion and evacuate vulnerable people from Afghanistan before they have completed the US military withdrawal.

State Department says Blinken will meet with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday before heading to the city of Kuwait the day after.

India is a key player in US efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the region Indo-Pacific and elsewhere. State Department spokesman Ned Price said The agenda in Delhi would include “COVID-19 response efforts, Indo-Pacific engagement, shared regional security interests, shared democratic values ​​and tackling the climate crisis.”

Kuwait, with Qatar, is one of the many countries considered to be possible hosts thousands of Afghans who worked for the United States and want to be relocated to the United States before the complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan at the end of August.

Biden government hopes to evacuate some 4,000 Afghans who served as translators and in other support roles for U.S. forces in Afghanistan and their families at U.S. military bases in third countries while their visas were processed.

This adds up to approximately 2,500 Afghans who have already completed the security screening and will be staying at the Fort Lee military base in Virginia, pending final visa approval starting next week.

Taliban advance bombs South Asia

The unprecedented advance of the Taliban on the ground, which has taken under their control more than a hundred districts of Afghanistan, feed the fears of South Asia, a region plagued by armed groups who could contemplate with euphoria the victory of the insurrection.

Afghanistan’s rapid deterioration is preceded by the decision to United States and some NATO withdraw its troops after twenty years of fighting the Taliban, leaving a unfinished war in the hands of the Afghans themselves, and a new dynamic in the security of the region.

With more than 130 districts, out of 402 in Afghanistan, under its control, in addition to several border posts and public institutions, the Taliban is delivering bad news for states, while setting an example for other groups in the region.

(By Matthew Lee – AP – With information from EFE)

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