UK foreign secretary to visit Pakistan for Afghan talks

• Dominic Raab to leave on Wednesday for region around Afghanistan, including Pakistan, where he will spend two days talking to government officials: source.
• UK foreign secretary to hold talks about the rescue of those left behind in Kabul after the departure of the remaining foreign forces: UK govt.
• Raab will likely also meet a representative of the Afghanistan government, source adds.

LONDON: UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will be visiting Pakistan to hold talks with Pakistani officials related to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

Officials from Pakistan and the UK spoke on Tuesday afternoon to finalise the visit.

Raab has been under intense fire for being away on vacation as Kabul fell after the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government, and thousands of Britons were left stranded.

The UK government said Raab will head to the region for talks about the rescue of those left behind in Kabul after the departure of the remaining foreign forces.

The foreign secretary said he would be leaving for the region on Wednesday, after a combative grilling on the government’s handling of the crisis in Afghanistan by the Foreign Affairs Committee, but did not say where exactly, due to security reasons.

However, a UK government source confirmed to this reporter that the foreign secretary will be in Pakistan for two days to hold talks with Pakistani government officials.

The source said that Raab will be meeting civilian and military leadership and the visit is being held on the request of the UK government, which is looking to get remaining British nationals out of the region, with facilitation from other countries.

The source added that Raab will likely also meet a representative of the Afghanistan government.

On Tuesday, Raab told the Foreign Affairs Committee: “We’re always very careful about signalling travel movements because of the security implications. But I can tell you I’m leaving after this committee to go to the region.”

Committee chair Tom Tugendhat asked Raab: “Is this your first trip to Pakistan?”

“I’ve been to Pakistan before but not as foreign secretary,” he responded.

Raab said the central assessment of the UK government was that Kabul was “unlikely” to fall in 2021, despite it ultimately being taken by the Taliban in the middle of August.

“The central assessment that we were operating to, and it was certainly backed up by the JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee) and the military, is that the most likely, the central proposition, was that given the troop withdrawal by the end of August, you’d see a steady deterioration from that point and it was unlikely Kabul would fall this year,” he said.

Raab pledged not to recognise the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, but said the UK and its allies will “test them and judge them”.

He told the Foreign Affairs Committee: “We will not recognise the Taliban. I believe the US and most of the like-minded G7 countries have all said the same. What we will do is test them and judge them by how they respond.

“I think we will need, as I have said, a much broader caucus of countries involved in trying to resolve this. The United States is going to remain engaged and responsible for what happens next and of course we want to work very closely with them.”