US-Taliban peace deal: India reiterates support for 'Afghan-led, Afghan controlled process'

New Delhi, Feb 29: India reiterated to the US-Taliban peace deal and US-Afghanistan joint declaration in Doha on Saturday, it summarize the consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan.

India's Ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran represented the country at the signing of the landmark peace deal between the US and the Afghan Taliban.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement,

"India's consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan; end violence; cut ties with international terrorism; and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan controlled process."

Diplomats from a number of countries including Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia were present during signing of the deal which marks end of the United States' war in Afghanistan since 2001.

India was invited for the signing-in ceremony by the Qatar government.

India's presence at the ceremony marked a significant change in its policy as it was for the first time New Delhi sent an official representative to an event involving the Taliban.

India has been a key stakeholder in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. In a significant move, India had sent two former diplomats in "non-official" capacity to a conference on Afghan peace process in Moscow in November 2018.

The conference organised by Russia was attended by a high-level Taliban delegation, representatives of Afghanistan as well as from several other countries, including the US, Pakistan and China.

Major powers such as the US, Russia and Iran have been reaching out to the Taliban as part of efforts to push the stalled Afghan peace process.

India has been supporting a national peace and reconciliation process which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan controlled. India has also been maintaining that care should be taken to ensure that any such process does not lead to any "ungoverned spaces" where terrorists and their proxies can relocate.