New Delhi : The rapid deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan is a serious matter, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar conveyed to Qatar Special Envoy Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani during their meeting here on Saturday.
In tweets, Jaishankar said he had shared India’s perspectives on the recent developments in the war-torn country.
“The rapid deterioration of the security situation is a serious matter. A peaceful and stable Afghanistan requires that the rights and interests of all sections of society are promoted and protected,” he tweeted.
Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, the Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of Qatar for Counter-terrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution, is on a visit to India.
On Saturday, he met Jaishankar and is to meet Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
Qahtani, who arrived on Friday, met Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran), J. P. Singh “and exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan and recent developments in the Afghan peace process,” the sources said.
Jaishankar, in his tweet, said he was pleased to receive the Qatar Special Envoy. “Shared the Indian perspective on recent developments in Afghanistan. Also the concerns of the region that I heard during recent interactions.”
The Qatar capital, Doha, has become the hub of a series of peace negotiations on Afghanistan, with Qahtani playing an active role in the Afghan peace negotiations. His visit to India comes days ahead of the August 11 meeting of the ‘Troika Plus’ in Doha that will see senior officials from Russia, the US, China, and Pakistan, discuss the Afghan peace process.
The Troika Plus has not invited India for the talks.
The meeting also comes as India is holding the month-long presidency of the UN Security Council. On Friday, the UNSC, under India’s presidency, held a special session on Afghanistan, where India’s Permanent Representative to the UN T.S. Tirumurti emphasized that for enduring peace in Afghanistan, terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries in the region must be dismantled immediately and terrorist supply chains disrupted.
The Taliban has been moving to take over large swathes of territory, and unleashing violence in the process, after the US-led forces began their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Last month Qahtani visited Rawalpindi and met Pakistan’s General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
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