“There were reports about Indian delegation meeting our delegation, but I can’t confirm that. consistent with my information, a (separate) meeting hasn’t happened but on Friday we had a gathering in Doha, during which an Indian delegation also participated,” Taliban spokesperson Muhammed Suhail Shaheen was quoted as saying by ANI.
India had recently joined Qatar and a number of other other countries after a regional conference and declared that there’ll be no recognition of any military takeover of Afghanistan. The countries further involved an instantaneous and comprehensive ceasefire. consistent with Qatar, China and Pakistan were among the countries who said they won’t recognise any violent takeover during a separate meeting on August 10.
When Taliban was asked to assure that ‘Afghan soil’ won’t be used against India, Shaheen said, “We have a general policy that we’re committed to not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against any country, including the neighboring countries.”
According to reports, the Taliban are on the brink of taking control of India’s showpiece infrastructure project Salma dam, also called India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam, within the Herat province. The dam had been inaugurated by President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016. The province capital and Afghanistan’s third-largest city, Herat city, has already fallen to the Taliban.
“There is not any danger from our side to embassies and diplomats. We won’t target any embassy or diplomat. We’ve said that in our statements repeatedly . it’s our commitment,” the Taliban spokesperson asserted.
However, his commitment came with a warning. “If they (India) come to Afghanistan militarily and have their presence, i feel which will not be good for them. They’ve seen the fate of military presence in Afghanistan of other countries, so it’s an open book for them,” Shaheen added.
The spokesperson further denied removing the Nishan Sahib, a Sikh holy flag, from a gurdwara within the Chamkani area of Paktia that was once visited by Nanak .
“That flag was removed by Sikh community themselves. When our security officials went there, they said that if flag is seen, someone will harass them. Our people assured them and that they hoisted it again,” Shaheen said.
