India holds first official talks with Taliban

Afghan resistance movement and anti-Taliban uprising forces at Khenj District on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

In the first formal and publicly acknowledged contact, Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal met senior Taliban leader Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai on Tuesday and conveyed India's concerns that Afghanistan's soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the discussions also focused on the safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan and the travel of Afghan nationals, especially members of minority communities to India.

The meeting took place at the Indian embassy in Doha at the request of the Taliban side and came two weeks after the outfit seized control of Kabul.

The MEA said the Taliban representative assured the ambassador that "these issues" would be positively addressed.

People familiar with India's ties in Afghanistan said it was the first publicly acknowledged contact between the two sides in over at least two decades.

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