INDIA INVITED FOR US-TALIBAN TALKS IN QATAR

Prelims level : International - India and Afghanistan Mains level : GS-II India and its Neighbourhood- Relations
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Why in News?

  • India has been invited to witness the ceremony to seal the peace deal between the U.S. and Taliban in Qatari capital Doha.

Highlights:

  • 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.
  • India has reiterated that a peace negotiation should be Afghan owned, Afghan led and Afghan controlled, and participation from the Afghan government in the ceremony will indicate that the U.S.-Taliban deal will ultimately take an inclusive turn.
  • This issue is already part of the draft peace agreement and Kabul is expected to deal with this soon after the U.S.-Taliban deal is signed.
  • It is understood that the same six-member delegation will represent the Government of President Ghani in the ceremony and begin the intra-Afghan negotiation thereafter.
  • India has been a key stakeholder in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. 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.

Peace Deal:

  • The Peace deal will allow for the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan.
  • There are more than 12,000 US troops in Afghanistan. A report stated that 2,448 Americans have died in combat there since the invasion in October 2001.
  • India has been invited by the Qatar government for the signing ceremony India has been a key stakeholder in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
  • This will be the first time India will officially attend an event involving the Taliban.
  • Countries including the US, Russia, and Iran have been reaching out to the Taliban as part of efforts to push the stalled Afghan peace process.
  • In November 2018, India had sent two former diplomats in non-official capacity to a conference on the Afghan peace process in Moscow, Russia.
  • The peace deal conference was organized by Russia. It was attended by a high-level Taliban delegation, representatives of Afghanistan and from several other countries, including the US, Pakistan, and China.
  • 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.

 

 

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