India Government on Thursday, September 12, said any peace process should have “full consent” of Afghanistan government and its citizens, days after US President called off negotiations with Taliban. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar was quoted saying, India was very closely following developments relating to peace initiatives in Afghanistan. He was asked about Donald Trump cancelling a secret meeting with Taliban leers at his Camp David retreat last week.

Kumar said, “We are following developments including talks between US and Taliban very closely. We are of view that all sections of Afghan society including legitimately elected government should be part of peace process.” On September 8, Donald Trump said that it cancelled secret meeting with Taliban after extremist outfit claimed responsibility for a blast in Kabul which killed a dozen people including a US soldier.

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India supports election process in Afghanistan

"We have supported election process which is about to unfold later this month. Our point of view is that any process should respect constitutional legacy and it should t le to any ungoverned s where terrorists and ir proxies can relocate," MEA spokesperson said. "We are reasonably confident that any decision on peace process taken by US and international community will take into account all se concerns," he ded.

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India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled. In March, India conveyed to US that it should t withdraw its troops from Afghanistan without putting in place an elected "political structure" to govern country.

International community reaching out to Taliban for peace 

Major powers such as US, Russia and Iran have been reaching out to Taliban as part of efforts to push stalled Afghan peace process. India has been a key stakeholder in peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. In a significant move, India h sent two former diplomats in "n-official" capacity to a conference on Afghan peace process in Moscow last vember which was attended by a high-level Taliban delegation. conference organised by Russia was attended by representatives of Afghanistan as well as from several or countries, including US, Pakistan and China.

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(With inputs from PTI)