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<strong>The Afghan foreign minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar is in New Delhi against the backdrop of a fresh US initiative to find a peaceful settlement in war-torn Afghanistan.</strong></p>
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Atmar&rsquo;s visit to India is significant in the light of the Joe Biden-led US administration&rsquo;s fresh approach to the Afghan peace talks , which includes India&rsquo; s participation.</p>
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According to media reports, an Indian delegation led by Joint Secretary for Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan J.P. Singh in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had gone to Kabul on Friday to prepare for Mr. Atmar&rsquo;s visit and for briefings on the recent developments.</p>
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During his meeting with the India&rsquo;s External Affairs minister&nbsp; S. Jaishankar on Monday evening the visiting Afghan Minister will share the details on recent developments related to the troubled peace process. He is also going to meet&nbsp; Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.</p>
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Last week, Jaishankar and the visiting US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin had discussed the ongoing Afghan peace talks. Austin left New Delhi Sunday and made a stop in Afghanistan before heading back to the US.</p>
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Austin&#39;s trip came at a time when the US was reviewing the Doha agreement, which the country had signed with the Taliban in February 2020.</p>
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In a report last week, NBC News had said that President Biden is considering keeping US troops in Afghanistan until November, rather than withdrawing them by the May deadline, TOLO News reported.</p>
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In tune with the flux in Afghanistan, India has high stakes in preventing the return of Pakistan in Kabul, with the possibility of the Af-Pak zone becoming a springboard for breeding and&nbsp; launching terror groups in Kashmir. India is especially opposed to a larger profile for the Haqqani group, well-known to be backed&nbsp; by the Pakistani ISI.&nbsp;</p>
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<img alt="Doval Afghanistan" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/Doval_Afghanistan.jpg" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></p>
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<strong>It may be recalled that NSA Doval had visited Kabul on January 13</strong> and had a detailed talks with the Foreign Minister Atmar, President Ghani, chairperson of Afghanistan&#39;s High Council for National Reconciliation Dr Abdullah Abdullah among others on Counter-terror, building regional consensus for supporting peace in Afghanistan and other key issues.</p>
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Last year India had attended the start of the Intra-Afghan Talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha and Jaishankar had said in his address, &ldquo;During the address, Jaishankar said that the peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled. &ldquo;Addressed the conference on Afghan peace negotiations at Doha today. Conveyed that the peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled, respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, promote human rights and democracy, ensure interest of minorities, women and the vulnerable, effectively address violence across the country,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;The friendship of our peoples is a testimony to our history with Afghanistan. No part of Afghanistan is untouched by our 400-plus development projects. Confident that this civilizational relationship will continue to grow.&rdquo;</p>
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India has persistently called for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process which leads to a settlement that preserves the gains and democratic processes established over the past two decades. India has key stakes in peace and stability in Afghanistan, having pledged $3 billion for the reconstruction and development of the country.</p>
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There has been a flurry of developments related to Afghanistan over the past few days starting the US secretary of state Antony Blinken&rsquo;s letter to&nbsp; the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani outlining the next steps in the peace process and a draft peace agreement and hold&nbsp; the UN lead&nbsp; meetings of foreign ministers and envoys from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the US to discuss a unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan.&nbsp; This was followed by a Russia-initiated meeting in Moscow last week at which the nations involved issued a joint statement calling on the Afghan sides to reach a peace deal and curb violence, and on the Taliban not to launch any offensives in the spring. They also said they &quot;did not support the restoration of the Islamic Emirate.&quot;</p>
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The first UN led meeting on the peace process&nbsp; in Istanbul&nbsp; is expected early in April. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said that he will attend the conference if the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada attends the event.</p>
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Before this meeting, there is the Ninth Ministerial Conference Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process which is being held in Dushanbe on March 30 and Jaishankar will be participating in this meeting.</p>
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Heart of Asia &ndash; Istanbul Process is a decade old initiative of Afghan-Turkey that has 15 countries as part of it. The initiative aims at peace in Afghanistan. Most of the countries are Afghanistan&#39;s neighbours and west Asian countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE as part of it.</p>
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