In our better interest: Taliban on NSA level meet on Afghanistan convened by India

New Delhi, Nov 11: The Taliban has said that the first regional meeting on Afghanistan convened by India was in its better interest. The Taliban regime reiterated that its land will not be used against any country.

"Though we are not present in this conference, we firmly believe that this conference is in the better interest of Afghanistan as the entire region is considerate of the current Afghan situation and the participating countries also must be thoughtful of improving and safeguarding the security situation in Afghanistan and helping the current government to ensure security in the country on its own," Taliban regime's spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said in an audio statement.

For the NSA level meet India had invited the NSAs of Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. China and Pakistan have however said that they will not be attending the meet. China had cited re-scheduling issues, while Pakistan had referred to India as a spoiler.

While referring to India as a spoiler, Pakistan's National Security Advisor, Moeed Yusuf said that his country would not take part in it. On the other hand, there is no word from China which has been engaging with the Taliban both directly as well as through Islamabad.

The situation in Afghanistan has gone from bad to worse since the US troops left and the Taliban took over. While women and child rights have taken a severe beating, there is also this added worry of a steady rise of the Islamic State Khorasan Province. It has since August 15, the day the Taliban took over undertaken a series of deadly blasts targeting specifically Shias and non-Sunni minorities in the country.

The other problem that is gradually unfolding in Afghanistan is the revival of the Al-Qaeda. While the US has made it clear that the Taliban should not support the Al-Qaeda or the ISKP, officials tell OneIndia that there is very little that would be done about it in Kabul.