Taliban condemn Pahalgam terror attack in foreign minister-level talks
For the first time ever, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has spoken to his Taliban counterpart, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and expressed his deep appreciation of the Taliban’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Taking to X, Jaishankar said, “Good conversation with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi this evening. Deeply appreciate his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.” The foreign minister also welcomed Muttaqi’s “firm rejection" of recent attempts to create “distrust” between India and Afghanistan through “false and baseless reports”.
On May 11, in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, Pakistan had accused India of launching drone strikes and ballistic missile attacks into Afghanistan’s territory, a claim swiftly denied by both the Taliban and New Delhi.
“Underlined our traditional friendship with the Afghan people and continuing support for their development needs. Discussed ways and means of taking cooperation forward,” Jaishankar added.
The conversation between the two leaders is significant in the light of the ongoing bad blood between the Taliban and Pakistan — the latter accuses terror groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) of carrying out terror attacks inside Pakistan and then escaping into Afghanistan.
Even more interesting, the Taliban is still not recognised as Afghanistan’s legitimate ruler by the rest of the world, but Jaishankar’s phone conversation with Muttaqi steps up that claim.
Still, the Indian government has been wooing the Taliban for some time, although in August 2021, when the Taliban took Kabul, it was feared that it would act as a proxy for the Pakistan ISI. But quite the opposite has happened. Pakistan’s ties with the Taliban have seen a steady deterioration, mainly because of the activities of the TTP.
In January this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Muttaqi in Dubai, amidst gathering speculation that the Taliban would reopen its embassy in Delhi.
While that did not happen, the conversation continued. The Taliban spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi condemned the Pahalgam attack, saying “such incidents undermine efforts to ensure regional security and stability.”
On April 27, an Indian delegation, led by its joint secretary on the Afghanistan-Pakistan desk, Anand Prakash, travelled to Kabul to meet the Afghan foreign minister. At that time, as well, the Afghans had condemned the Pahalgam massacre.
