Oppn prepares for govt’s Afghan briefing

EAM JAISHANKAR WILL BRIEF PARLIAMENTARY FLOOR LEADERS OF VARIOUS PARTIES ON THE AFGHAN SITUATION AT 11AM ON THURSDAY

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday held a high-level internal meeting where it consulted two former diplomats on the Afghanistan situation, a day before the Union government’s briefing on the issue. Other Opposition parties, too, were busy preparing background notes or holding discussions on the latest developments related to the Taliban’s grip on the wartorn Afghanistan, people aware of the developments said.

Former national security advisor Shivshankar Menon and former foreign secretary Shyam Saran joined the Congress’s discussions on the Afghanistan situation on Wednesday. The virtual meeting chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also attended by former PM Manmohan Singh, party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Anand Sharma and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar will brief parliamentary floor leaders of various parties on the prevailing situation in

Afghanistan at 11 am on Thursday after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan fuelled chaos, protests and exodus from Kabul.

The Congress’s meeting went on for an hour and the party discussed 10 broad points ranging from the role of the Northern alliance to evacuation efforts to the stand against Taliban. Later, it decided to restructure the 10 broad points into four-five specific issues on which it would seek the government’s reply.

HT’S request for comments to both Menon and Saran went unanswered.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has also prepared a note based on inputs from former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha, who joined the West Bengal’s ruling party earlier this year. Party’s MP Derek O’brien said, “We want to hear the government first. Our response should be based on what the government tells us...”

The TMC’S background note, accessed by HT, suggests the government should talk “openly and transparently” with Taliban and must extract assurance “that their land will not be used (to nurture terrorist groups and provide training to these outfits) to Indian delegations if there is a one-on-one meeting.”

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury held an internal briefing of the party on Wednesday. The party is likely to criticise the US, a usual policy for the communists, but ask the government on the security and strategy issues. “We are deeply concerned about the developments on Afghan soil,” said Yechury.