India seeking peace in Afghanistan, says Abdullah Abdullah

Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah said that India is seeking peace in Afghanistan.

Abdullah gave this statement while addressing a session with the Council of Ministers here on Monday.

Last week on Friday, India reiterated its commitment and support to Afghanistan’s efforts towards a peace and reconciliation process that is led, owned and controlled by Kabul.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar informed that a meeting took place on January 10 between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the United States special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, where the officials shared their perspective on peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan’s peace and reconciliation process and has been pushing for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.

In November last year, India had participated in talks on Afghanistan peace process in Moscow at a non-official level. New Delhi sent two former diplomats to the meeting, which was also attended by Taliban leaders even though India has a policy on not engaging with the terrorist group.

During the Moscow meeting, the Taliban had said that the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan was the only way forward for maintaining peace and security in the region.

Meanwhile, a 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue that recently took place in New Delhi between India and the United States, focused over the diplomatic stance of the two countries in stabilising peace in Afghanistan.