Mumbai: India has accepted Russia’s invitation for talks with the Taliban in Moscow.
The Taliban, which took power two months ago, has also been invited for talks and will face India, which expelled its diplomatic staff from the country after a regime change there.
Confirming India’s participation, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We have received an invitation for the Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan on October 20. We will be participating in it.”
The Ministry of External Affairs is likely to send a Joint Secretary level official to the meeting – a final decision on this is yet to be taken.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said Moscow had invited Taliban representatives for international talks on Afghanistan on October 20.
The talks follow the G20 summit on Afghanistan – it was held on 12 October – to help the country avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the wake of a change of power there.
India’s Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal had met representatives of the Taliban in Doha in late August and this will be the second meeting for Indians in Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia is concerned about its influence in the wider region. Moscow has moved to control the Taliban but has stopped short of identifying the group that has been banned in Russia as a “terrorist” organization.
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