India to be in talks with Taliban at non-official level for the first time

New Delhi, Nov 9: India will take part at a non-official level in the meeting being hosted by Russia on Afghanistan, where representatives of the Taliban will be present.

The Moscow-format meeting on Afghanistan will be held on November 9 and representatives of the Afghan Taliban radical movement will take part in it, the Russian Foreign Ministry had said last week.

In response to queries regarding India's participation in the meeting, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "We are aware that the Russian Federation is hosting a meeting in Moscow on 9 November on Afghanistan." "Our participation at the meeting will be at the non-official level," he said.

India supports all efforts at peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan that will preserve unity and plurality, and bring security, stability and prosperity to the country, he said.

"India's consistent policy has been that such efforts should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, and Afghan-controlled and with participation of the government of Afghanistan," Kumar asserted.

The meeting comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks a host of global issues.

After the talks, in a joint statement, the two sides declared their support to the Afghan government's efforts towards the realisation of an Afghan-led, and Afghan-owned national peace reconciliation process.