Afghanistan’s top negotiator for intra-Afghan talks, Abdullah Abdullah, will visit India on October 6. This would be his first visit to Delhi as Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, representing the Afghan government in talks with the Taliban, which started in September in Doha.

Keshwarnews quoting Indiatoday reported, Abdullah Abdullah is expected to meet the top leadership of India to seek support for the intra-Afghan talks which India always maintained should have been “Afghan-led” and “Afghan-owned”.

In September, a delegation from India went to Doha for the inauguration ceremony of the inter-Afghan talks. Joint Secretary, PAI or Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran division of Ministry of External Affairs, JP Singh, had represented India during the visit.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also delivered his remarks virtually to the gathering.

JP Singh also met Abdulla Abdulla on the sidelines of the intra-Afghan ceremony on September 12 in Doha.

India has its concerns regarding any settlement with the Taliban and the role Pakistan plays in the stability in Afghanistan, an issue that has been raised as a concern by many within Afghanistan as well.

At the ceremony, Jaishankar had stated, “Our friendship with Afghanistan is strong and unshaken, we have always been good neighbours and will always be so. Our expectation is that the soil of Afghanistan should never be used for any anti-India activities”.

Jaishankar also stated that the process “should promote the values of human rights and democracy that can foster development”. “The interests of the minorities, women and vulnerable must be ensured,” he asserted.