Ahead of the G7 meet today featuring Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came out strongly against the Islamist militant group, dubbing them a "terrorist entity" and calling for sanctions against them. United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson was the first Western leader to speak about sanctions on Taliban. "Canada already recognises, and has for long, that the Taliban are terrorists, and harbor terrorists. That is why they are on the terrorist list. So, yes, we can talk about sanctions," Trudeau said, news agenct AFP reported.
The Taliban will be judged by its deeds rather than words, Johnson said ahead of the meet. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, two weeks before the US was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war. This forced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country to the UAE.
Downing Street on Monday said that during the meeting on Tuesday, Johnson will call on the Group of Seven leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US to continue to stand by the Afghan people and step-up support for refugees and humanitarian aid.
He is expected to urge international partners to match the UK's commitments on aid and the resettlement of those most in need in order to protect human rights and contribute to the stability of the region. "Our first priority is to complete the evacuation of our citizens and those Afghans who have assisted our efforts over the last 20 years but as we look ahead to the next phase, it's vital we come together as an international community and agree a joint approach for the longer term," said Johnson.
"That is why I've called an emergency meeting of the G7 to coordinate our response to the immediate crisis, to reaffirm our commitment to the Afghan people, and to ask our international partners to match the UK's commitments to support those in need," he said.
-Inputs from agencies
