New Delhi: stressed that the Taliban victory in Afghanistan will have an impact on India, region, and the world, Harsh Shringla’s foreign secretary said India would “do everything” to minimize all the consequences of the change in the country in the country.
Overcoming the Indian Management Association on Friday, Shringla said there was a “silver layer” in the Taliban made the right sounds and looked for international legitimacy and recognition, which they did not have power.
“We can work with a dispensation that is willing to maintain the interests of the people of Afghanistan,” he said.
Before the Taliban took over, India worked on development projects in all 34 provinces of the country and a message from the new regime was that they wanted India to continue.
Shringla observed that the new regime in Afghanistan needed trade and assistance from India.
Statement of foreign secretaries needs to be read in the context of indications that India can consider doing business with the Taliban, and even considering recognition, but this will depend on how the regime behaves with its citizens and if concerns over terrorism are handled adequately.
India could not rush into the decision because it would want clarity about how many leverage Pakistani-based jihad groups will enter in Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar drove the concern of Home India in Afghanistan to be the center of terror at UNCC during his visit to New York.
Shringla also said the US had indicated that it would begin to issue a ‘H’ category visa for Indian professionals who wanted to travel to the US in September.
At the end of the year, visas from other categories can also be issued if Covid levels continue to be low.
Shringla saw the ‘silver lining’ in Afghanistan
