India among 10 countries to participate in meeting convened by Taliban in Kabul
India was among 10 regional countries that participated in a meeting of diplomatic representatives convened by the Taliban setup in Kabul on Monday, reflecting the growing engagement with a regime that isn’t officially recognized by New Delhi.
The Regional Cooperation Initiative meeting, which was addressed by Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, was also attended by diplomats from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Indonesia. There was no official word from Indian officials on the meeting, which came days after the Indian embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) invited the acting Afghan envoy Badruddin Haqqani to the Republic Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesman of the Taliban foreign ministry, quoted the Indian representative who attended the meeting as saying that New Delhi backs all initiatives focused on the stability of Afghanistan. India actively takes part in international and regional initiatives regarding Afghanistan, and supports every effort leading to the stability and the development of Afghanistan, Ahmad quoted the Indian representative as saying in a post on X.
Muttaqi asked the participants to take advantage of emerging opportunities in Afghanistan for the development of the region and to also coordinate the management of potential threats. He emphasized the need for positive interactions with the countries of the region and asked the diplomats to convey the Taliban’s message of a region-oriented initiative to their countries so that Afghanistan and the region can jointly take advantage of new opportunities for the benefit of all.
Muttaqi further said the regional cooperation should lead to calls for the removal of unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan and respect for one another’s choices of indigenous and traditional development models and governance methods.
India, the largest regional donor for Afghanistan with pledges amounting to $3 billion, pulled out all its diplomats and officials from the country after the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021. It subsequently re-established a diplomatic presence in the country by deploying a technical team at the mission in Kabul in June 2022.
Senior Indian diplomats have interacted with Taliban officials in West Asian countries and on the margins of multilateral meetings on Afghanistan such as the Moscow Format talks hosted by Russia.
