Tough to meet deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan- Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden has said that it would be tough to meet the deadline to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by 1st of May, as agreed with the Taliban in a deal secured under Donald Trump.While informing of the last 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan, Biden said that he is in the process of making the decision as to when they will leave.Reacting to the deadline set in an accord struck with the Taliban under former President Donald Trump in February 2020, Biden said, it was not a very solidly negotiated deal that the then-president oversaw.

Biden’s interview aired a day before Russia, China, the United States, Pakistan, a delegation of top Afghan officials and opposition leaders and Taliban negotiators meet in Moscow in an attempt to kickstart deadlocked peace talks. Some US officials and many experts fear that if US-led international forces depart before a peace deal is reached, Afghanistan could plunge into a new civil war, giving al Qaeda a new sanctuary.

The 2020 accord specified a phased conditions-based US withdrawal. Trump ordered it to proceed despite a surge in violence blamed mostly on the Taliban, a six-month delay in intra-Afghan peace talks and what US officials say is the Taliban’s failure to fulfil a commitment to cut ties with al Qaeda. This diluted US negotiating leverage. The Taliban reacted to Biden's comments, with a spokesperson telling AFP there would be "consequences" if the United States did not stick to the agreed timetable -- further raising pressure on the fragile peace process.