Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, at the head of a high-level delegation to the United States, was widely reported in the Afghan media, experts and thinkers, and the question has been raised as to whether he returned empty-handed from Washington.
Ashraf Ghani and his entourage met separately last week with US President Joe Biden, members of Congress and the Senate, high-ranking government officials and influential US figures.
The visit comes at a time when Afghanistan is witnessing unprecedented violence, with several districts (cities) in Afghanistan falling to the Taliban last week and security forces fighting insurgents across the country.
Reactions to the trip varied, with a delegation from the Taliban, including Amrullah Saleh, calling the trip a success, but a number of experts criticized Washington’s cold reception.
The Vice President of Afghanistan’s effective use of defense and security assistance, explaining the Afghan government’s position on peace, defending national sovereignty, explaining the role of the region in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal, especially the regional economic approach were among the issues discussed in the US.
He announced Biden’s commitment to providing security, defense, humanitarian and diplomatic assistance to Afghanistan.
Travel Achievements
Dawakhan Minapal, head of the Afghan government’s media center, described Ashraf Ghani’s visit as successful.
He referred to the new chapter in US-Afghan relations after the withdrawal and announced the continuation of cooperation in the military, economic, development and social sectors with Afghanistan.
The head of the Afghan government’s media center, referring to Washington’s $ 3.3 billion aid to Afghan forces, said the finalization of the aid was ongoing and would take place soon.
But Afghan politicians and politicians have a different view of President Ghani’s visit to the United States.
Unsuccessful journey
Dr. Malek Satiz, a lawyer and international affairs expert, called Ashraf Ghani’s visit to the United States a failure and said that they had sacrificed the country for their own political and ethnic interests and damaged its legitimacy.
He stated: Now the Afghan ship has hit hard rocks.
Ahmad Saeedi, a former Afghan diplomat in Pakistan and a university professor, also wrote on Facebook that the delegation was not well received and that no US government official greeted the delegation at the airport, and that the Afghan embassy assisted in transferring members from private company vehicles.
According to Saeedi, the US commitment to continue to help the government, which is announced as the achievement of the trip, is not new, and this assistance had been promised before.
The expert said that usually high-ranking officials attend the press conference at the end of the trip and, as usual, did not do so.
He added that the Kabul-Washington agreement was not mentioned in the meetings, adding that the trip ended without any achievements.
Negative reaction
According to a poll conducted by VOA’s Dari website, 73% of Afghans said Ashraf Ghani and his entourage’s visit to Washington was negative and without any achievements.
Mohammad Alam Izdiar, the Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Senate, said at yesterday’s meeting that what was said during the visit of the Cabinet to the President of the United States was a repetition of the previous promises of the United States and nothing new was achieved during this visit.
Dr. Abdul Qayyum Sajjadi, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and president of Khatam al-Nabin University, also commented on the trip, saying that diplomatic mobility and lobbying were necessary but not enough to support the political system.
He added that the commitment to continue US economic and political assistance to Afghanistan and to stand by Europe alongside the Afghan people is not as permanent as their many years in Afghanistan.
According to Sajjadi, the government should turn this opportunity into a great national asset for systematization, security and political stability by creating political harmony and strengthening the relationship between the government and the nation.