General Sir Nick Carter, the former Chief of the Defense Staff of the United Kingdom, believes that interaction with Afghanistan’s current government is necessary.
In a special interview with TOLOnews, Carter stressed that the Islamic Emirate has a chance to be recognized by the international community if they form an inclusive government and uphold human rights.
“Engaging with the Taliban means we must try to encourage the moderate elements in the Taliban to think differently and to think about how they can create an inclusive government and to create a government in a way that is genuinely consistent and predictable, and this means that those Afghans who want to lead normal lives are able to lead normal lives. I think it is important,” he said.
“They need to govern inclusively to the benefit of all Afghans, and if they do that there is reasonable chance that many Afghans…who have left Afghanistan over the course of the last year might return to the country which will be very good for the country,” Carter added.
According to Carter, not inviting the Taliban to the Bonn meeting in 2001 was a failure.
“It was obviously a failure to exclude the Taliban from the Bonn agreements and not to continue a dialogue with the Taliban which could have led to an inclusive government,” he said.
