- Mirza AB Peik
- BBC Urdu.com, Delhi
38 minutes ago
Image source, RTA
Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Yaqub has said he has no problem re-establishing security ties with India. He stressed, however, that diplomatic relations between the two countries should be restored first.
He told CNN News 18 that if the relations between the two states returned to normal, the Taliban would be ready to send Afghan security forces to India for training.
Mullah Yakub has called on the Indian government to reopen the Indian embassy in Kabul and allow the Taliban ambassador to operate in the Afghan embassy in New Delhi.
The defense minister said the Taliban were ready to provide all security guarantees if India sent its diplomatic staff back to Afghanistan. Earlier, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen had said this in Doha.
Mullah Yaqub reiterated in an interview with CNN News 18 that the Taliban government wants good relations with all countries of the world, including India.
The Taliban’s Defense Minister Mullah Yaqub, the son of Taliban founder and leader Mullah Omar, spoke to Tariq Atta, a BBC monitoring and Afghan affairs expert, about the report. He says there is frustration among the Taliban and in Afghanistan, and that economic activity has almost come to a standstill.
He said the Taliban wanted the world to recognize itself because no country has yet formally accepted the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
They have appealed to all Muslim countries, including Pakistan, as the Taliban have not yet been recognized by the United Nations.
To the Afghan security forces Already Trained India
Pro-Taliban observers have called on the Organization of Islamic State (OIC) to recognize the Taliban government for initiating economic activity in Afghanistan. They question how many days a country that relies on humanitarian aid can survive.
“Training the security forces will be a big deal because Pakistan cannot accept it. The Taliban have already been given technical training, but formal training is at a different level. It is surprising that the Taliban say this,” Atta said.
Image source, MOFA
JP Singh, Joint Secretary of India with Taliban Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaki
Tariq Atta said there were two divisions among the people in Afghanistan regarding India and Pakistan. One is pro-Pakistan and the other is pro-India.
For the first time, an official delegation from India has visited Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The committee appears to have gone on to reconsider the assistance provided on humanitarian grounds. Apart from this, India has always been interested in Afghanistan.
Earlier, India met with Taliban leaders in Doha. Recently, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval visited Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. He said India has a special relationship with Afghanistan and will continue to do so.
A meeting on regional security was held in Dushanbe. It was attended by National Security Advisers and National Security Council leaders from India, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
“The centuries-old special relationship with the people of Afghanistan will guide India’s approach and nothing can change that,” Dowell was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
Commenting on this, Tariq Atta said that India has historically had good and close relations with Afghanistan and that India has invested heavily there since the first round of rule of the Taliban. India has completed several construction projects. Many projects, however, are still incomplete. If India resumes its plans, many Afghans will receive financial assistance thereby.
In an interview with CNN News18, Mulla Yaqub thanked India for providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan over the past few months.
Image source, YEARS
JP Singh, Joint Secretary, India, visited the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul.
India has so far sent 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat, 13 tonnes of medicines, 5 lakh doses of Govt vaccine and winter clothing to Afghanistan, according to a June 2 press release from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. These items have been handed over to the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, the World Health Organization WHO and the World Food Program WFP.
India has allocated over Rs 200 crore to Afghanistan in its 2022-23 budget, BBC Monitoring quoted the Hindustan Times as saying.
Former Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Vivek Katju, who served in Kabul from 2002 to 2005, described the Indian delegation’s visit to Afghanistan as “brilliant”. He said he hoped this would lead to India’s permanent presence in Kabul.
It is noteworthy that after the Taliban’s occupation of Afghanistan, India, like many other countries in the world, closed its embassy in Kabul and severed diplomatic relations with the Taliban.
Image source, Getty Images
‘We did not come between India and Pakistan’
In his interview, Mulla Yaqub spoke briefly about the tripartite relations between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India and the security of the region.
He said the Taliban government would not allow Pakistan or India to use each other’s land to oppose each other and hoped that the two countries would resolve their differences through negotiations.
The Taliban defense minister has said he has no links to al-Qaeda and that terrorist organizations and IS in Afghanistan will be crushed.
When asked about Pakistan and the Durant Line, he said that they have good relations with Pakistan and sometimes if something happens on the Durant Line it should not be taken lightly.
Mullah Yakub appealed to the United States not to create problems for the Taliban government in Afghanistan and to establish diplomatic relations with them.
However, India is concerned about the influence of Pakistani intelligence and extremist groups on the Taliban. India considers that the territory of Afghanistan should not be used for operations against it.
But the Taliban insist that they will not allow any country or group in the world to use Afghan soil for anti-national activities.
Image source, MOFA
India’s top official J.P. The Taliban defense minister made the remarks during a meeting of the Singh-led delegation with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki in Kabul.
“We want good relations with Afghanistan as before, and Indian officials have told them that their assistance will continue,” a statement from the Taliban’s foreign ministry said.
“India must resume programs that have stalled in Afghanistan, restore diplomatic relations and provide diplomatic services to Afghans, especially Afghan students and patients,” said Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaki.
The Deccan Herald reports that India has finally given up its reluctance to meet the militants directly in Afghanistan.
“Since the Taliban came to power, the Pakistani spy agency has been planning to reduce India’s presence in Afghanistan. However, the project has suffered a severe setback due to the Indian delegation’s visit to Afghanistan,” says Kerala Klamudi, a leading Malayalam language newspaper.
Earlier, Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, told The Print News that India should establish relations with the current Taliban government in Kabul and sever all ties with the former Taliban government in Kabul, in the interests of national and mutual interest.
BBC Tamil on social media: