During the meeting between India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishshankar and the United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin, India made it very clear that it is “deeply troubling” as the Taliban is “taking over power by force” which is not the path to international recognition.
During the meeting with Blinkin, Jaishankar called for a “broad and deep consensus” outcome in Afghanistan that should not be “decided by force on the battlefield” and that only negotiation would lead to peace.
The Indian EAM said, “Regarding Afghanistan, it is essential that peace negotiations are taken seriously by all parties. The world wishes to see an independent, sovereign, democratic and stable Afghanistan at peace with itself and with its neighbours but its independence and sovereignty will only be ensured if it is free from malign influences. Similarly, unilateral imposition of will by any party will obviously not be democratic and can never lead to stability nor indeed can such efforts ever acquire legitimacy,” he said.
“The gains to Afghan civil society especially on the rights of women, minorities and on social freedoms over the last two decades are self-evident; we must collectively work to preserve them. Afghanistan must neither be home to terrorism nor resource of refugees,” he said.
However, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in an interview said, “I think the US has really messed it up in Afghanistan,” and fears Afghanistan could again descend into a civil war while failing to mention how his country gave sanctuary to the Taliban for the last twenty years.
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