Afghan foreign minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar is set to visit India on March 22 against the backdrop of a fresh US initiative to find a political settlement in war-torn Afghanistan, people familiar with developments said on Thursday.
Atmar will travel to Delhi after a meeting of the “extended troika” on Afghanistan convened by Russia on March 18, and the visit will provide him an opportunity to exchange notes on recent developments related to the troubled peace process with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, the people said on condition of anonymity.
There has been a flurry of developments related to Afghanistan over the past few days after US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s letter to President Ashraf Ghani outlining the next steps in the peace process and a draft “peace agreement” were accessed by Afghanistan’s Tolo News channel.
The US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, spoke to Jaishankar on phone on March 7 and visited Islamabad the following day. Khalilzad met Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa and stressed the need to “accelerate progress towards a just and durable peace in Afghanistan”, an official US statement said.
Blinken’s letter, which hasn’t been denied by the US or Afghanistan, outlined four elements as part of a high-level diplomatic effort to move toward a political settlement and a permanent ceasefire. These elements include asking the UN to convene a meeting of Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the US to discuss a unified approach on Afghanistan, and the Turkish government hosting a meeting of the Afghan government and the Taliban to finalise a peace agreement.
{{/usCountry}}Blinken’s letter, which hasn’t been denied by the US or Afghanistan, outlined four elements as part of a high-level diplomatic effort to move toward a political settlement and a permanent ceasefire. These elements include asking the UN to convene a meeting of Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the US to discuss a unified approach on Afghanistan, and the Turkish government hosting a meeting of the Afghan government and the Taliban to finalise a peace agreement.
{{/usCountry}}The US has also prepared a 90-day proposal for reduction in violence, while the draft peace agreement talks of the formation of a transitional government involving the Taliban.
India has been kept out of the March 18 meeting of the “extended troika” called by Russia. The original members of the troika – Russia, the US and China – will be joined by representatives of Pakistan, the Afghan government and the Taliban. People familiar with developments said India had been kept in the loop about Russia’s plans to convene this meeting.
The people said the Russian side expects to include India in troika consultations at a later stage as part of the ongoing efforts to forge regional consensus on the Afghan peace process.
India, which is yet to open a channel with the Taliban, has persistently called for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process which leads to a settlement that preserves the gains and democratic processes established over the past two decades. India has key stakes in peace and stability in Afghanistan, having pledged $3 billion for the reconstruction and development of the country.