Why did India attend the UN Doha meeting on Afghanistan, in which the Taliban was also present

New Delhi : 25 countries including India participated in the third UN conference on Afghanistan in Doha. For the first time, Taliban officials also attended this two-day conference which ended on July 1. The Taliban wants recognition of its rule in Kabul from the international community. But it is not ready to remove the restrictions imposed on women’s education and employment. The Taliban did not participate in the previous meetings held in May 2023 and February 2024. Human rights organizations have strongly criticized the non-inclusion of Afghan women in this conference. India was represented by JP Singh, Joint Secretary, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) Division in the Ministry of External Affairs.

That’s why India joined

India is moving forward with utmost caution with the Taliban. India is working closely with the Taliban to provide humanitarian aid and meet its security needs in Afghanistan. But it does not want to do anything that would give the impression that it is moving towards officially recognising the Taliban government in Kabul. The Indian government has also participated in previous rounds of UN talks on the situation in Afghanistan.

Taliban thanked India before the UN meeting on Afghanistan, know why they did so

Steps taken in view of economic and security interests

India believes that as a country adjacent to Afghanistan, it has legitimate economic and security interests. India has invested over $3 billion in Afghanistan. India is currently working on 490 projects in critical sectors such as water, connectivity, agriculture, education and health across all 34 provinces of the country. The purpose of the meeting was not to get recognition for the Taliban but to find ways to improve the lives of the Afghan people.

Special message to Taliban in the meeting

The UN and other countries have tried to convince the Taliban through these talks that human rights and civil rights cannot be an internal matter for the Kabul regime. Afghanistan has signed international treaties on such issues in the past. This is important because the Taliban has been insisting that the international community look beyond Kabul’s treatment of women and children and respond to their efforts to build political and progressive relations.

India attended the UN meeting on Afghanistan, for the first time Taliban representatives also arrived, the United Nations gave clarification

Know what was the focus of the meeting

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said after the meeting that human rights, particularly the rights of Afghan women and girls, and inclusion of all segments of society will remain an integral part of all discussions going forward. She also said that all parties need to build trust in each other. She stressed that the dialogue must be based on sincerity and principles. The principles of the UN Charter and various human rights treaties to which Afghanistan is a party.

what did the taliban say

According to the UN, the Taliban listened to the international community’s call to include women and civil society in all aspects of public life, even if they did not allow their participation in the Doha talks. According to the Taliban, a major achievement in the meeting was that all countries agreed to support Afghanistan. A promise was also made to lift restrictions on banking and economic activities.