With Afghanistan crisis likely to dominate the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden is planning to defend his hasty troop withdrawal from the war-torn country in his speech, reported news agency Reuters. Biden is likely to argue that the withdrawl was necessary in order to pivot their policy to focus on a global challenge from China and climate change, the report added.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, "Biden will lay out the case for why the next decade will determine our future, not just for the United States but for the global community, and he will talk...about the importance of re-establishing our alliances after the last several years."
A senior White House official told Reuters that the US President's message will be "ending the war in Afghanistan closed a chapter focussed on war and opens a chapter focused on ... purposeful, effective, intensive American diplomacy".
Meanwhile, Biden met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres after arriving in New York on Monday for his first address to the high-level UN General Assembly session as American President. He will address world leaders in person from the iconic General Assembly hall on day one of the week-long General Debate.
"America is back. We believe in the United Nations and its value. Because of the challenges we face today in ending COVID-19 and dealing with the gravest threat to humanity we've ever seen, which is the whole climate crisis...we're undergoing that can only be met with global solutions, no one country can - no ten countries can do it," Biden said.
"The strong partnership between the United States and the UN is based on common values and principles. And at this moment, those bonds are more important than ever," he said before his meeting with the UN chief.
Guterres said Biden has clearly affirmed the strong commitment of the United States to the UN and to multilateralism.
"A multilateralism that we also want to see reformed, more effective, and more in line with the need to solve the dramatic problems of this world," he said.
(With AP inputs)
