The first such trip since the dissolution of the Ashraf Ghani administration last August, India has dispatched a delegation to Kabul led by the external affairs ministry’s point-person in Afghanistan to interact with key Taliban members and monitor humanitarian relief operations.
Although there have been backchannel talks and discussions with the Taliban in foreign countries such as Qatar, India, like other nations, has not recognised the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, India halted its diplomatic mission and flew hundreds of citizens out of the war-torn country on civilian and military planes.
While in Kabul, the crew, led by joint secretary JP Singh, who heads the external affairs ministry’s Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk, will “meet senior Taliban members and hold discussions on India’s humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan,” according to a statement published by the ministry on Tuesday.
The delegation will supervise the delivery of India’s humanitarian supplies to Afghanistan and meet with leaders from international relief distribution organisations. The delegation will also travel to several locations where Indian programmes and initiatives are being deployed.
According to people acquainted with the situation, the visit, which was not mentioned in advance, would be brief and didn’t happen “out of the blue,” implying that the attempt was well-planned. The Taliban are said to have issued security guarantees for the Indian team’s journey.
The Indian team’s meeting with Taliban commanders and the areas it would visit to observe India-backed development projects were not immediately known.
At a weekly media conference, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was asked about the visit and the Indian delegation, but he declined to go into detail. He also tried to dispel rumours that the visit was linked to the reinstatement of a diplomatic presence in Kabul.
“You are reading far too much into this visit. This visit is about humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan,” Bagchi stated.
“The ongoing visit is to oversee the delivery of the assistance and we will have discussions with the relevant people. India has historical and civilisational ties with the Afghan people, this will continue to guide our approach to Afghanistan,” he added.
According to a Taliban spokesperson, Singh discussed diplomatic ties, bilateral commerce, and humanitarian help with the regime’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi. The first visit from India to Kabul, according to Muttaqi, was a “good beginning in ties between the two countries.”
Image credits: PTI
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