India envoy to Qatar meets Taliban leader, discusses evacuation of stranded citizens

Head of Taliban’s Political Office, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai (first right), arrives for Intra Afghan Dialogue talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, on July 7, 2019. (AP/File)

• New Delhi maintains Taliban requested the meeting which was arranged at the Indian embassy in Doha
• The head of the Taliban political office in Qatar said a day earlier trade with India was important for Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: Indian ambassador to Qatar on Tuesday held a meeting with a senior Taliban leader in Doha on the request of the Afghan group, said an official statement released in New Delhi, to discuss the security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan.
The Taliban emerged as a dominant political force in their country after capturing major cities and strategic border crossings before entering Kabul earlier this month.
Media reports suggest India also held backchannel talks with the Afghan faction in the past, though this is the first time New Delhi has officially acknowledged its interaction with the Taliban leadership.
“Today, Ambassador of India to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Head of Taliban’s Political Office in Doha,” said the statement issued by India’s external affairs ministry. “The meeting took place at the Embassy of India, Doha, on the request of the Taliban side.”
“Discussions focused on safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan,” the statement continued.
The Indian ministry informed Stanekzai “assured” the Indian envoy that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used for “anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner.”
The Afghan official took military training for one and a half years in the Indian Military Academy during the 1980s. According to media reports, he was known as “Sheru” by his batchmates in the academy.
Mittal’s meeting with Stanekzai took place only a day after the senior Taliban leader highlighted the importance of Afghan “political, economic and trade ties with India.”
In a video posted on social media on Monday, he said that Afghanistan wanted to continue its cultural, economic and trade ties with New Delhi.
“Trade with India through Pakistan is very important for us,” he said in the message. “With India, trade through air corridors will also remain open.”
So far, India has not taken an official position on the Taliban’s political ascendency or the fall of Kabul.
It evacuated its diplomatic staff from the Afghan capital on August 16, a day after the Taliban captured the city.
Indian political analysts described the meeting of their ambassador with the Taliban leader as “good news.”
“The Indian media should stop demonizing the Taliban,” said Sudheendra Kulkarni, a Mumbai-based political analyst who also advised India’s former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
“We should show both the positives and negatives of the Taliban,” he added.