Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy: White House

Washington: The Taliban needs to meet its commitments to get legitimacy, the White House has said.

“We've not recognised them as a governing power in Afghanistan. They want that. They want legitimacy. Then they need to meet their commitments,” John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday.

“I mean, how can you effectively govern, how can you effectively have a useful economy when basically half your workforce, all women, are prohibited from being a part of that process? So, we're going to keep holding them accountable for their commitments,” he said in response to a question.

Asked if this means that the US will not have any conversation with the Taliban, he replied, “Of course not. We're still working to try to get our allies and partners in Afghanistan out. That takes conversation. It takes dialogue.”

“But it's important to the United States to keep meeting our word to the people who helped us for 20 years. And does it mean that we don't still have shared counterterrorism threats? Absolutely, we do. And the Taliban has been fighting against ISIS-K, particularly inside their country,” Kirby said.