EAM Jaishankar Says ‘India Wasn’t Taken Into Confidence On US-Taliban Deal’: Report

Jaishankar noted that any question on according recognition to the Taliban dispensation has to be addressed on the basis of fulfilling the commitments made by the grouping in the Doha agreement.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (File Photo)

New Delhi: Sharing concerns over the formation of Taliban government in Afghanistan, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said India was not made aware of the aspects of the deal signed by the US and the Taliban last year and it still isn’t clear whether Afghanistan will have an inclusive government or whether Afghan soil will not be used for terror.

While speaking virtually at the annual leadership summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Jaishankar said even as India and the US are on the same page on many issues relating to the developments in Afghanistan there are aspects where the positions of the two countries are not exactly the same, as per the news agency PTI.

These issues have given rise to justified concerns in India and other countries about the situation in Afghanistan, said the minister according to the news agency.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Jaishankar said, “When I say levels of concern, there were commitments which were made by the Taliban at Doha... US knows that best, we were not taken into confidence on various aspects of that.”

The report added the minister saying, “So, whatever were the deals which were struck in Doha – one has a broad sense but beyond that, are we going to see an inclusive government, are we going to see respect for the rights of women, children and minorities? Most important, are we going to see an Afghanistan whose soil is not used for terrorism against other states and the rest of the world?”

The external affairs minister also noted that any question on according recognition to the Taliban dispensation has to be addressed on the basis of fulfilling the commitments made by the grouping in the Doha agreement.

"I think we are on similar pages at a principle level on many of these issues, certainly say terrorism. The use of Afghan soil for terrorism is something both of us feel so strongly and it was something which was discussed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Joe Biden," Jaishankar said.

Afghanistan remained one of the important topic between Modi and Biden in Washington last week. "There will be issues on which we will agree more, there will be issues on which we will agree less. Our experiences in some respects are different from yours (the US). We have been victims of cross-border terrorism ourselves from that region and that has shaped in many ways our view of some of the neighbours of Afghanistan," he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.

The external affairs minister said it is for the US to decide whether it shares that view, adding that India has concerns over the developments in Afghanistan.