NEW DELHI, Sep 12: The external Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will virtually join the scheduled discussion between the Afghan government and Taliban rebels aimed at bringing an end to around two decades of conflict to be held in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, a day after the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States that triggered its military involvement in Afghanistan.
J P Singh, the Joint Secretary, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division in ministry of external affairs, will be present physically during the discussion.
All the countries bordering Afghanistan either through land or sea route have been invited to participate in the discussion including Pakistan, Iran and other Central Asian Countries.
India is Afghanistan’s key change partner and has built the India-Afghanistan friendship dam in the western province of Herat and the Afghan Parliament in capital Kabul.
In the earlier Doha talk in February this year, India represented by P Kumaran, the then Indian envoy in Doha, attended the signing ceremony of the US-Taliban deal.
Representing the Afghan government in the talks will be the Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Acting Afghan foreign minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Afghan President’s Special Representative on Peace Affairs Abdul Salam Rahimi and State Minister for Peace Affairs Seyed Sa’adat Mansour Naderi.
In a statement on the talks, the Afghan government said, “President Ghani wishes success for the negotiating delegation of the Afghan Government on their mission to bring sustainable peace and stability to the country.”
The Taliban reciprocated, “As both America and Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan have entered in an agreement we declare our readiness to partake within the inauguration ceremony of Intra-Afghan Negotiations.”
The US has welcomed the announcement of Afghanistan peace negotiations and has dispatched the US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo to attend the meet.
(Venkatesh Iyer)
