An Indian delegation headed by a senior Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) official met Afghanistan’s interim Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob this week, providing the usage of Chabahar Port in Iran to enterprise teams in Afghanistan, whereas additionally holding discussions on extending extra humanitarian help to Kabul.
The delegation led by JP Singh, the Joint Secretary of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division within the MEA, on November 4-5 visited Kabul, the place additionally they met former President Hamid Karzai and some senior ministers.
“In the course of the go to, he (Singh) had a number of conferences with Afghan ministers, together with the performing Defence minister. He additionally known as on former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and the top of UN businesses there,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated in response to a query through the weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday.
“That they had discussions on India’s humanitarian help, and the way Chabahar Port will be utilised by the enterprise group in Afghanistan for transactions and for export and import and another factor that they wish to do,” he stated.
“Offering humanitarian help to Afghanistan is a crucial a part of our help programme and up to now in the previous few months, and few years, now we have dispatched a number of shipments of humanitarian help. We’ve got longstanding ties with the individuals of Afghanistan, and these ties will proceed to information our method in the direction of the nation,” Jaiswal stated.
India doesn’t recognise the Taliban regime that has been ruling Afghanistan since 2021, however has been offering humanitarian assist, together with wheat, medicines and medical provides, to the Afghan individuals once in a while.
This was Singh’s first assembly with the Taliban’s performing defence minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the MEA stated. Yaqoob is the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
The Taliban’s defence ministry posted an image of the assembly on November 6.
Karzai stated in a put up on X on Wednesday that he and Singh had mentioned the long-standing and historic ties between the 2 international locations and emphasised on the necessity to strengthen bilateral relations “as a lot as attainable”.
Whereas appreciating India’s cooperation with the individuals of Afghanistan, Karzai stated extra consideration ought to be paid to the training and coaching of the Afghan youth, creating commerce, and easing journey between the 2 sides.
