Indian envoy, Taliban leader meet in Doha, talks on evacuation, terrorism

In a significant development, the chief of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai met the Indian envoy to Qatar Deepak Mittal.

The official announcement was made by the Ministry of External Affairs. The meet happened at the request of Taliban side, it said.

During the meet, ambassador Mittal raised the issue of repatriation of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan.

“Discussions focused on safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan & travel of Afghan nationals, especially minorities, who wish to visit to India also came up,” the MEA said in its statement.

The meet between Stanekzai and Mittal is the first ever public acknowledgement by New Delhi.

So far, India has evacuated 565 people, of which 175 are embassy personnel, 263 are other Indian nationals. The number of evacuees also include 112 Afghan nationals, including Hindus and Sikhs.

In the meeting, Ambassador Mittal also raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner, the MEA said.

India has often expressed its concerns publically over Pakistan-based terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed finding safe haven in Afghanistan.

The statement by the MEA said the Taliban representative assured the Ambassador that these issues would be “positively addressed.”