EAM Jaishankar attends intra-Afghan talks in Doha, says 'peace process must be Afghan-led'

India on Saturday, September 12, attended the intra-Afghan talks in Doha, where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar joined-in virtually and a senior official participated in-person. While addressing the conference on Afghan peace negotiations Jaishankar asserted that the peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, and Afghan-controlled.

“Addressed the conference on Afghan peace negotiations at Doha today. Conveyed that the peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled, respect national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, promote human rights and democracy, ensure the interest of minorities, women, and the vulnerable, effectively address violence across the country,” Jaishankar wrote in his tweet.

“The friendship of our people is a testimony to our history with Afghanistan. No part of Afghanistan is untouched by our 400-plus development projects. Confident that this civilizational relationship will continue to grow,” Jaishankar added.

He also said, "Our expectation is that the soil of Afghanistan should never be used for any anti-India activities."

READ | Afghanistan's warring sides meet to find peace

READ | Pompeo addresses Afghan peace talks in Qatar

Joint Secretary, Pakistan Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division in the ministry of external affairs, JP Singh is in Doha and has witnessed the ceremony. Furthermore, India had attended the signing of the US-Taliban agreement on February 29 and during that time, Indian ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran had witnessed the event.

Jaishankar meet Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in Tehran

Earlier this week, Jaishankar had also visited Iran and had discussed the situation in Afghanistan. He made the visit two days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his counterpart in Iran. The External Affairs Minister on Tuesday flown to Tehran and met Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and discussed the Chabahar port project and the situation in Afghanistan.

India will be present along around 30 countries at the peace talk ceremony. All the countries that border Afghanistan have been invited which include Iran, Pakistan, and many central Asian countries, according to media reports. India is Afghanistan's major development partner and has built number infrastructure projects in the country like India Afghanistan friendship dam in the western province of Herat and the Afghan Parliament in the capital Kabul. 

READ | Pompeo lauds two Arab accords with Israel, exudes confidence in Trump's Mideast peace plan

READ | Afghanistan's warring sides meet to find peace