Today, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the Homeland Security Adviser to the U.S. President Joe Biden, attended the next of the Central Asia-USA format meeting (C5+1) in Tashkent.
“Together we can achieve much more as the C5+1 than alone or bilaterally. This approach is at the heart of President [Joe] Biden's vision. The challenges we face today - from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change and international terrorism - are too great for one country to address on its own,” said Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
She recalled that at the end of August, the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan would end after 20 years. “We will move to a new level of relations. As President Biden made clear, despite our soldiers returning home, our commitment to the Afghan government and the Afghan people will remain strong,” she added.
“We will continue to provide security assistance to the Afghan National Defense Forces, as well as development and humanitarian assistance. We will continue our aggressive action against terrorist groups that threaten the United States and the security of our allies and partners, including your countries,” said Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
“We will also continue to support negotiations to reach a political solution that brings the Afghan people the peace they deserve and build a stronger regional and international base of support for Afghanistan's future. This is the work we must do together for the people of Afghanistan and our collective security,” she said.
In addition, according to her, the country is now deploying a massive campaign to expedite the distribution of vaccines around the world. “We have pledged 500 million doses to the COVAX program and the vaccine will also arrive to this region,” she underscored.
