Safe return of Indians, terror in focus at 1st India,taliban meet
NEW DELHI: India raised the safe return of its citizens still in Afghanistan and concerns about Afghan soil being used for antiindia activities and terrorism during its first officially acknowledged contact with the Taliban on Tuesday.
India’s ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, flagged these issues when he met Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanekzai, head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha. The meeting was held at the Indian embassy in Doha “on the request of the Taliban side”, the external affairs ministry said in a brief statement. The meeting between Mittal, who earlier headed the Pakistan-afghanistan-iran desk in the external affairs ministry, and Stanekzai, who has issued several messages seen as conciliatory towards India, came after months of backchannel contacts between the Indian side and the Taliban that were first reported by HT in June.
“Discussions focused on safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan. The travel of Afghan nationals, especially minorities, who wish to visit to India also came up,” the statement said. Mittal “raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-indian activities and terrorism in any manner,” it added.
“The Taliban representative assured the ambassador that these issues would be positively addressed,” the statement said, without giving details.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first time that India officially acknowledged any sort of contact with the Taliban since the group was formed in the 1990s. Experts said it was significant the meeting was sought by the Taliban’s political leadership just about a fortnight after the group assumed power in Kabul on August 15, following the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government.
Ahead of the meeting in Doha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed a high-level group, which includes external affairs minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, to focus on India’s immediate priorities against the backdrop of the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan.
Among these priorities are the safe return of Indians stranded in Afghanistan, travel of Afghan nationals, especially minorities such as Sikhs and Hindus, to India, and assuring that Afghan territory is not used in any manner for terrorism directed against India, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.
The group, which has been meeting regularly over the past few days, includes senior officials from key ministries and security and intelligence organisations.
The group is monitoring the ground situation in Afghanistan, where the US completed the drawdown of its troops on Monday, and international reactions to the latest developments, such as the resolution passed by the UN Security Council on Tuesday. In the resolution adopted at the end of India’s presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of August, the body demanded that Afghan soil shouldn’t be used to attack any country or to shelter terrorists.
The external affairs ministry acknowledged at a briefing last week that at least 20 Indian nationals had missed a military evacuation flight from Kabul on August 25 but didn’t give an exact number for Indians who are still in Afghanistan. Another 140-odd Afghan Sikhs and Hindus were also barred by the Taliban from entering Kabul airport to take a military evacuation flight on August 25 and efforts are underway to get them out.
On the security front, India’s greatest concern is the reported presence in Afghanistan of up to 10,000 fighters from Pakistanbased terror groups such as Lashkar-e-taiba, Jaish-e-mohammed and Lashkar-e-jhangvi.
There are also concerns about the Haqqani Network, a key faction of the Taliban that has targeted Indian interests in the past and has close ties to Pakistan’s security establishment.
India for the first time opened channels of communication with several Afghan Taliban factions and leaders, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, last year. Stanekzai, seen as the number two in the Taliban’s negotiating team, has apparently taken on a key role in foreign relations, including the Taliban’s outreach to regional countries.
In a video posted on social media platforms on Saturday, Stanekzai said, “India is very important for this subcontinent.”