India and the United States are closely watching Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Friday, 3 September, indicating that India will be holding talks with the Taliban leadership.
Commenting on the stand by the United States, he said, “Obviously, like us, they're also watching carefully and we have to watch Pakistan’s actions with a fine tooth comb.”
He blamed Pakistan for having “supported and nurtured the Taliban.”
“That doesn't mean you don't do anything. It simply means that you have to... the situation is very fluid on the ground, you have to allow it to see how it evolves. You have to see whether the assurances that have been made publicly are actually maintained on the ground, and how things work out,” he said.
The foreign secretary was in Washington DC for a series of meetings with top officials of the Biden administration. He met US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl and discussed ways to advance India-US strategic and defence partnerships.
The diplomat told reporters that based on the limited engagement that India has had with the Taliban, the new Afghan rulers have indicated that it would be reasonable in addressing our concerns.
“In our statement, we have said that we have told them that we want them to be cognisant of the fact that there should be no terrorism that emanates from their territory directed against us, or other countries; that we want them to be mindful of the status of women, minorities and so on so forth. And, and I think they have, also, you know, made reassuring... from their side,” he said.
On Thursday, he had called on the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the ‘fluid’ situation in Afghanistan.
“Look on 15th of August, you had a situation where (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani suddenly left. You had the Taliban come in. The situation is moving so fast it's so fluid that is difficult to comment at this point of time on anything,” he said.
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