Indian diplomat meets Taliban leader Stanekzai in Doha

In the first formal diplomatic contact between India and the Taliban after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, Ambassador of India to Qatar Deepak Mittal met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, head of the Taliban's Political Office in Doha.

New Delhi:In yet another development, Ambassador of India to Qatar Deepak Mittal on Tuesday met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the head of Taliban's political office in Doha, said the Ministry of External Affairs. The meeting can be viewed in line with the Taliban's overture to India. Last week, the senior leader of the outfit Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai has said that the Taliban wants to maintain Afghanistan's trade, economic and political relations with India while describing India as an important country in the region.

The statement came at a time when US troops have left Afghanistan, ending America's longest war. The meeting between the head of the Taliban Stanekzai and the Indian diplomat took place at the Embassy of India, Doha, at the request of the Taliban side today.

The 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 India was also discussed, the MEA said.

Analysts believe that although India has maintained a 'wait and watch ' policy on the situation in Afghanistan, it is in direct touch with the Taliban leaders to discuss the ongoing crisis.

Earlier in June this year, Indian officials made a “quiet visit” to Doha to speak to the Taliban’s political leadership based there. Also in August, as the security situation in the war-torn deteriorated, External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar met Al-Qahtani, the Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of Qatar for Counter-terrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution, who was on a secret visit to India to discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan.

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During today's meeting, Ambassador Mittal raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner. The Taliban Representative assured the Indian ambassador that these issues would be positively addressed, the MEA said on Tuesday.

With the Taliban take over, India has evacuated over 550 people in six separate flights, either from Kabul or Dushanbe. Of these, over 260 were Indians, the MEA has confirmed last week during the press briefing.

MEA spokesperson had said that the government also facilitated the evacuation of Indian nationals through other agencies and that it is in constant touch with various countries, like the US, Tajikistan for the evacuation process. As part of the evacuation plan, MEA said that India was able to bring out some Afghan nationals as well as nationals from other countries. Among them were Sikhs and Hindus too.

The MEA spokesperson said, "Primarily, our focus will be on Indian nationals, but we'll also stand by Afghans who stood by us." Bagchi further said that the overall assessment is that the vast majority of Indians who wish to return have been evacuated.

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