In Delhi on Tuesday, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met with US spymaster William Burns. The meeting took place on the same day that the Taliban released the names of those who would lead Afghanistan, including a guy nominated as Prime Minister who was on the UN sanctions list.
The specifics of what Mr. Doval and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) discussed are unknown, but security concerns were front of mind in the aftermath of the Taliban government’s establishment in Afghanistan.
When the Taliban took over Kabul three weeks ago, India was one of the countries that withdrew their diplomatic employees. Russia and Pakistan have remained in their positions.
India’s worries over the events in Afghanistan would very certainly have been discussed during the CIA chief’s discussion with Mr. Doval. India has stated that it does not anticipate the Taliban to let terror organizations operate from its territory in order to strike India, particularly to cause unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
Today, Mr. Doval will meet with his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, in Delhi. According to reports, the conference would focus on issues pertaining to China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
India’s Ambassador to Russia DB Venkatesh Varma, however, said talks with the Taliban in Doha have not yielded the right results. “…India was not a direct participant in the Doha talks. India was also not part of the Troika Plus mechanism, but as I said, these mechanisms have not yielded the right results. I think one lesson is that it is better than India and Russia work together with respect to Afghanistan. That is the most important lesson for us,” Mr. Venkatesh said, referring to the Qatar-hosted talks with the Taliban that paved the way for the US pullout from Afghanistan after a 20-year war.
Pakistan interfering in Afghanistan’s affairs remains a concern for India. Pakistan continues to foment a “culture of violence” at home and across its borders, India said on Tuesday, criticizing Islamabad for using the platform of the United Nations for hate speech against India.
“A culture of peace is not just an abstract value or principle to be discussed and celebrated in conferences, but needs to be actively built into global relationships between and among member states,” First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Vidisha Maitra said in the UN General Assembly.
“We have witnessed yet another attempt today by the delegation of Pakistan to exploit a UN platform for hate speech against India, even as it continues to foment a culture of violence at home and across its borders. We dismiss and condemn all such efforts,” she said.
Mullah Mohammad Hassan, the little-known head of the Taliban’s leadership council, was named as acting Prime Minister in Afghanistan. Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the main public face of the group who signed a peace deal with the Trump administration last year, will serve as his deputy.
