US special envoy on Afghan peace visiting India for talks

WASHINGTON:US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad will brief officials in New Delhi on the Afghan peace talks in his first visit to India in this capacity. He is on a four-nation tour that will also take him to China, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Leaving Washington again to continue my work towards facilitating a negotiated settlement to the conflict in #Afghanistan,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “This time to #India for the #raisinadialogue, as well as Afghanistan, #China and #Pakistan.”

The Afghan-american diplomat, who oversaw the 2001 transition of power after the overthrow of the Taliban regime, has been a regular at the Raisina Dialogue as a participant and a speaker. This time he will be only a participant as a speaking slot didn’t work out.

This will be his first visit since he was appointed the special representative for Afghan reconciliation by secretary of state Mike Pompeo last September. He has been to the region twice but skipped India both times.

The state department said in a statement on Tuesday that Khalilzad is heading an interagency delegation and will “meet with senior government officials in each country to facilitate an intra-afghan political settlement”.

India, which has been deeply invested in reconstruction in Afghanistan, a role endorsed by President Donald Trump in his 2017 South Asia strategy, would like to hear about Khalilzad’s talks with the Taliban and convey its views to him.

New Delhi backs an Afghanled, Afghan-owned reconciliation effort and has been closely watching US efforts as Trump seems eager to end US military engagement in the 17-year-old war.

PM Narendra Modi and Trump discussed how to increase cooperation on Afghanistan in a phone call on Monday in the backdrop of reports that the US president is considering cutting troops from 14,000 to 7,000.