No knowledge of any meeting with Indian officials in Doha: Taliban

Amidst media reports that an Indian security team had met Taliban members in Doha, The Sunday Guardian spoke to Suhail Shaheen, the spokesperson of Taliban political office, who is based in Doha, where the Taliban political leadership has been stationed since June 2013.

Shaheen, a key member of team Taliban, while responding to The Sunday Guardian’s queries, said that he had no knowledge of any meeting taking place between Indian officials and Taliban leaders.

Earlier, Mutlaq bin Majed al-qahtani, the Special Envoy of Qatar’s foreign minister for counter-terrorism and conflict resolution, at a virtual seminar, had stated that Indian officials had visited Doha to speak to the Taliban.

The Ministry of External Affairs on 10 June, while responding to queries about possible engagement with the Taliban, had responded by stating it does not want to comment on the matter and that it was in touch with various stakeholders in pursuance of India’s long term commitments towards development and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Edited excerpts:

Q: How is the peace deal placed considering that US forces have withdrawn substantially from the country?

A: The occupying forces must complete their withdrawal soon. We are ready to speed up the peace process to reach an Afghan inclusive Islamic government, acceptable to all. But the other side of the intra-afghan negotiations should also show flexibility and focus on reaching a negotiated solution rather than focusing on prolonging their stay at power.

Q: What is the next step for the Taliban?

A: Our aim is establishment of an Afghan inclusive Islamic government through the current intra-afghan negotiations where all Afghans would have participation. We neither believe in monopoly of power nor military takeover, because these are not durable solutions to the Afghan issue.