British Foreign
Secretary Boris Johnson dismissed suggestions on Saturday that Britain's exit
from the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as U.S.
president
would lead to Western powers withdrawing from engagement with the rest of the
world.
Speaking during an
overnight visit to Kabul that included meetings with President Ashraf Ghani and
Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Johnson said Britain remained committed to
Afghanistan "for the long haul".
As well as continued
support for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission to train Afghan security
forces, it was doing "a hell of a lot" for aid and development in
Afghanistan, in areas like education, he said.
"None of those
will be affected by our relations with the treaties of the European Union, as
you would expect," he said.
Britain's June 23
vote for 'Brexit' and Trump's backing for an "America First" foreign
policy have triggered alarm among some commentators who see signs of increasing
isolationism among Western powers. However Johnson, one of the leaders of the
pro-Brexit camp, rejected such fears.
"If the
question is do I think that the western world is going to start withdrawing or
turning in on itself, then the answer is emphatically no, I don't think
so," Johnson told reporters. "That certainly won't be the situation
with the United Kingdom."
"We intend to
be more engaged with the world, more outward-looking than ever before," he
said.
"I think we'll
have to see how things pan out in Washington but I think that the interest of
the United States in the security and stability of this part of the world will
remain fundamental."
Johnson visited
Kabul University, where he attended a performance of a scene from Shakespeare's
tragedy Macbeth in Dari, as well as the British cemetery, with its memorial to
more than 450 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
He said Britain
could be proud of the sacrifices and achievements of its troops, despite the
deteriorating situation in areas like Helmand, now in large part under Taliban
control, where more British soldiers died than in any other province.
"No one is
sitting here and pretending that things are perfect but they are better by far
than they were," he said.
"There are many
ways that in spite of all the difficulties and all the challenges, this place
is better for the help that we have tried to give it over the years," he
said.
Reuters
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