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    India to seek Taliban deal details from US

    Synopsis

    Ahead of Trump’s India visit, external affairs minister S Jaishankar met US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad in Munich on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on the proposed deal with the Taliban. The Trump visit could help India get further clarity on the matter ahead of the signing of the deal, people in the know said.

    terrorAgencies
    In August last year Khalilzad and Taliban negotiators in Doha had almost agreed to a roadmap for peace in Afghanistan.
    NEW DELHI: India will seek clarity and details from the Trump administration on the proposed US-Taliban deal during the President’s visit next week, people familiar with the matter said.

    The deal, expected to be signed by the end of this month, would lead to the withdrawal of American troops from the landlocked country. India fears it would give Pakistan an opportunity to regain its strategic depth in Afghanistan.

    Ahead of Trump’s India visit, external affairs minister S Jaishankar met US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad in Munich on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on the proposed deal with the Taliban.

    The Trump visit could help India get further clarity on the matter ahead of the signing of the deal, people in the know said.

    seeking-clarity


    At the February 14-16 Munich Security Conference, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said a proper announcement on the deal would be made in a week to ten days. He also said the US and Afghanistan were now on the same page on the matter. After the announcement, the Taliban will refrain from violence for a week and the US will then begin to withdraw its forces. Intra-Afghan dialogue can begin after that.

    People familiar with the issue indicated to ET that the Taliban were likely to reduce violence between February 22 and 28. If successful, it will be followed by the signing of the deal between the US and the Taliban, days after Trump returns from Delhi. The Taliban in the past had refused to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, which they do not recognise.

    In August last year Khalilzad and Taliban negotiators in Doha had almost agreed to a roadmap for peace in Afghanistan.

    But the Islamist group continued to launch attacks in Afghanistan, attempting to capture territories while killing NATO soldiers, which forced Trump to temporarily end the talks in September.

    A peace deal with the Taliban would be the first since US troops went to Afghanistan in 2001, and would be viewed as a major success for Trump. He had promised to withdraw troops from Afghanistan during the 2016 election campaign.

    However, any role for Pakistan in Afghanistan with the Taliban at helm of affairs in Kabul will be detrimental to India’s diplomatic missions, development projects and security interests. India has no plans to put boots on the ground in Afghanistan.


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    ( Originally published on Feb 17, 2020 )
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