US, Taliban To Sign Historic Peace Deal In Qatar Today, Indian Envoy To Participate

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday travelled to Kabul and conveyed to the top Afghan leadership India's unstinted support to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.

Image: ANI

New Delhi: In a historic agreement the United States and the Taliban will be signing a landmark peace deal on Saturday in Doha, capital of Qatar, where Foreign Ministers and representatives from almost 30 countries including India have arrived to witness the pact between the two sides. India's Ambassador to Qatar will also attend the signing of the landmark peace deal between the US and the Afghan Taliban in Doha on Saturday, news agency PTI reported citing officials. Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday travelled to Kabul and conveyed to the top Afghan leadership India's unstinted support to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. He met President Ashraf Ghani and handed over to him a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shringla met Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Vice President-elect Amrullah Saleh, National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib and acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Haroon Chakhansuri and apprised them about India's strong commitment for all-round development of Afghanistan. While US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will attend the signing in Doha, American Defence Secretary Mark Esper and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will be in Kabul on Saturday, according to presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi, who said the two key officials will announce a joint declaration with President Ashraf Ghani. The deal would allow for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. The US has lost over 2,400 soldiers in Afghanistan since late 2001. Sources said India has been invited by the Qatar government for the ceremony where the deal will be signed and Indian ambassador P Kumaran will attend it. It will be for the first time India will officially attend an event involving the Taliban. India has been a key stakeholder in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. In a significant move, India had sent two former diplomats in "non-official" capacity to a conference on Afghan peace process in Moscow in November 2018. The conference organised by Russia was attended by a high-level Taliban delegation, representatives of Afghanistan as well as from several other countries, including the US, Pakistan and China. Major powers such as the US, Russia and Iran have been reaching out to the Taliban as part of efforts to push the stalled Afghan peace process. India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan controlled. India has also been maintaining that care should be taken to ensure that any such process does not lead to any "ungoverned spaces" where terrorists and their proxies can relocate. (with agency inputs)