A former senior American diplomat has warned that following the Taliban’s takeover of the war-torn country, the US needs to keep a close watch on China as it might try to take over the Bagram air force base in Afghanistan. She further added that China might also use the help of Pakistan to get stronger to go against India.
“We need to watch China because I think you are going to see China make a move for Bagram Air Force Base. I think they are also making a move in Afghanistan and trying to use Pakistan to get stronger to go against India. So, we have got a lot of issues,” she said.
While citing that there will be many challenges in front of the US, the former envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the present President Joe Biden has lost the trust and confidence of American allies after his hasty decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
“The US needs to make sure that Americans are protected and the country’s cybersecurity is strong because actors like Russia are going to continue to hack us because we show no signs of willingness to fight back,” she said.
The US military in July left Bagram Airfield – its key base in Afghanistan – after nearly 20 years. The airfield was at one point of time home to tens of thousands of US troops.
While responding to a question, Nikki pointed out that “The biggest thing he (Biden) should do is strengthen our allies, strengthen those relationships, modernise our military, and make sure we are prepared for the cyber-crimes and the terrorist crimes that are headed our way.”
She said that what President Biden’s administration should do is to reach out to its key friends and allies like India, Japan and Australia and assure them that the US will have their back.
“The first thing you should do is immediately start connecting with our allies, whether it’s Taiwan, whether it’s Ukraine, whether it’s Israel, whether it’s India, Australia, Japan, all of them, and reassure them that we will have their back and that we need them as well,” Haley concluded.
