India-Taliban First Official Talks: New Delhi Raises Concern Over Safe And Early Return Of Indians

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

Indian nationals living in Afghanistan arrive at Terminal 3 after being evacuated from Kabul amid the Taliban crisis. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Ambassador of India to Qatar, Deepak Mittal on Tuesday met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Head of Taliban’s Political Office in Doha to discuss on safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan. 

During the meeting, Mittal raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner. The Taliban Representative assured the Ambassador that these issues would be positively addressed, news agency ANI quoted Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as saying.  

The MEA said the Taliban leader has assured Mittal that these issues would be positively addressed.

"Today, Ambassador of India to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Head of Taliban's Political Office in Doha," the MEA said in an official release.

According to reports, the meeting took place at the Embassy of India, Doha, on the request of the Taliban side.

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

"Ambassador Mittal raised India's concern that Afghanistan's soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner," it added.

The meeting between two officials took place soon after Taliban triumphantly marched into Kabul's international airport earlier in the day, hours after the final U.S. troop withdrawal that ended America's longest war. 

Afghanistan is finally free, Hekmatullah Wasiq, a top Taliban official, told The Associated Press on the tarmac. The military and civilian side (of the airport) are with us and in control. Hopefully, we will be announcing our Cabinet. Everything is peaceful. Everything is safe.

U.S. military had wrapped up its largest airlift of non-combatants in history. During the evacuation, U.S. forces helped evacuate over 120,000 U.S. citizens, foreigners and Afghans, according to the White House.