Modi, Abdullah discuss intra-Afghan peace talks

<p class="p1">Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Abdullah Abdullah, the Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation. The two leaders discussed progress in the ongoing peace initiative—called the intra-Afghan talks, to bring stability to the war-torn country.</p>
<p class="p1">National Security Advisor Ajit Doval too attended the meeting. Abdullah will, later on, participate in an interaction at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) later today.</p>
<p class="p1">“Pleased to meet HE Narendra Modi @narendramodi, the Prime Minister of Republic of #India. In our friendly discussion we took stock of the latest developments on the #AfghanPeaceProcess, the talks in Doha, & India’s support for the peace efforts,” Abdullah said in a series of tweets.</p>
<p class="p1">He added in another tweet: “HE PM assured me of India’s continued support for the peace process, & Afghanistan. I thanked him & the people of India for the invitation, & generous hospitality. I also thanked India for its principled position on the #AfghanPeaceProcess."</p>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pleased to meet HE Narendra Modi <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a>, the Prime Minister of Republic of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/India?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#India</a>. In our friendly discussion we took stock of the latest developments on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AfghanPeaceProcess?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AfghanPeaceProcess</a>, the talks in Doha, & India’s support for the peace efforts. 1/2 <a href="https://t.co/D8qwqEfGAp">pic.twitter.com/D8qwqEfGAp</a></p>
— Dr. Abdullah Abdullah (@DrabdullahCE) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrabdullahCE/status/1314100509146398720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p class="p1">Abdullah had arrived in India on Tuesday for a five-day visit. He will also meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. The key leader for the intra-Afghan talks, Abdullah is seen to have leverage with both – the Taliban and Pakistan. His meeting with Modi marks a significant shift in India’s position on the militant group, which India has been avoiding for long. However, many experts have suggested that India open up to the Taliban and the latter also sees India is as a key player in the region.</p>
<p class="p1">India has traditionally been opposed to the Pakistan-backed Taliban in Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans were given refuge in India when they fled the country due to oppression of the Taliban regime. One of the reasons for this is that India has been in support of democratically elected governments in Kabul. Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani share a good relationship.</p>
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<p class="p1">After last year’s presidential elections, both Ghani and Abdullah had claimed victory. The disputed election results created a political stalemate for many months, which eventually ended up in a power-sharing arrangement between Abdullah and Ghani in May this year. The US was not too happy with the conflict between the two as it was talking with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, at the same time and, therefore, wanted a quick resolution to Afghanistan’s internal political squabbles.</p>
<p class="p1">While Ghani remains the President, Abdullah heads the National Reconciliation High Council, a body that holds peace talks with the Taliban.</p>
<p class="p1">In June, a UN Security Council report had said that not only do the Taliban and the Al Qaeda continue to cooperate with each other, but Kashmir-specific Pakistani terror groups, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were sending their trainers to Afghanistan to carry out target assassinations. The report had added that around 6,500 Pakistani terrorists, including 1,000 from the JeM and LeT, are present in Afghanistan.</p>
<b>Read more: <a href="https://indianarrative.com/world/rigid-taliban-frustrates-govt-over-intra-afghan-talks-9752.html">Rigid Taliban frustrates Govt over intra-Afghan talks</a>
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<p class="p1">This was followed by a Pentagon report, which said the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region remains a sanctuary for the LeT, JeM, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and IS-Khorasan.</p>
<p class="p1">Kabul has had a long-troubled relationship with Islamabad because of the Pakistani intelligence and military support to the Taliban.</p>
<p class="p1">Last month, Abdullah visited Pakistan where he announced that Afghanistan and Pakistan were on the threshold of a new relationship based on “mutual respect, sincere cooperation, and shared prosperity”.</p>
<p class="p1">In his meetings with the powerful military chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and also Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Afghan leader advocated that neighboring countries in the region should cooperate with each other.</p>
<p class="p1">Though Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism remains a concern for India, Modi’s meeting with Abdullah suggests that New Delhi was more than willing to back the democratically-elected Ghani and Abdullah to arrive at a resolution with the Taliban.</p>
<b>Read more: <a href="https://indianarrative.com/world/polio-battle-in-pak-afghanistan-marred-by-coronavirus-and-terrorists-10875.html">Polio battle in Pak, Afghanistan marred by coronavirus and terrorists</a>
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<p class="p1">The Intra-Afghan peace negotiations, which have been pushed by the US, finally took place last month in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The talks aim at ending the 19-year war, believed to be the US’s longest war, but have not led to any resolutions yet in face of complete distrust between the Afghan government and the Taliban.</p>
<p class="p1">Despite the talks, and despite the peace deal signed between the Taliban and the US, violence continues at an unprecedented pace. By indulging in violence against the people and the government, the Taliban has in fact violated the pact that it signed in Doha with the Americans on Feb 29.</p>
<p class="p1">The US-led NATO forces, under the deal, will leave Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for an end to violence from the Taliban.</p>
<p class="p1">(With agency inputs)</p>.