The Taliban at the negotiating table in Afghanistan today, Delhi sending "non-civil servants"

Former envoys Raghavan and Sinha will represent India at the meeting

India announced Thursday that it would participate, "at an unofficial level", in the Moscow meeting on Afghanistan, which will be attended by a Taliban delegation. The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not attend Friday's meeting, but the Afghan High Council for Peace, a government-appointed body mandated to hold talks with the Taliban on the reconciliation process, will be present. This is an important development and an important departure, as New Delhi did not participate in a multilateral meeting attended by the Taliban. At the last meeting on Afghanistan organized by Russia, India had sent to Deepak Mittal, Deputy Secretary for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. But Taliban representatives did not attend this meeting.

"We are aware that the Russian Federation is organizing a meeting in Moscow on 9 November on Afghanistan … Our participation in the meeting will be at an unofficial level," said Raveesh Kumar, official spokesperson for the Department of External Affairs. .

Although New Delhi has made the thoughtful decision to join the meeting, it will not send a government representative. According to sources, The Indian Express, Amar Sinha, former ambassador of India to Afghanistan, and TCA Raghavan, former high commissioner of India to Pakistan, will participate in the meeting as representatives of the 39; India.

Sinha and Raghavan, associated with government-funded think tanks, have expertise and experience in relations with the region. Sinha is a member of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (a think tank funded by MEA) and Raghavan is the Managing Director of the Indian Council of World Affairs (another think tank funded by MEA). Raghavan also served as deputy secretary

Sources said the Indian government had made the decision to send former diplomats in consultation with the Afghan government. According to sources, India has already participated in multilateral meetings on Afghanistan aimed at ensuring security and stability in this conflict-torn country.
Moscow said the goal of the upcoming meeting is to help narrow the gaps in the approaches adopted by the Afghan government and the Taliban with a view to holding a direct dialogue between Afghans.

In asserting that India supports the "Afghan-led" reconciliation process, MEA spokesman said, "India supports all peace and reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan that preserve the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. Unity and plurality, and bring security, stability and prosperity to the country. It has been India's consistent policy that these efforts should be led by Afghans, controlled by them and controlled by Afghans, and with the participation of the Afghan government. "

While a delegation of five Taliban members led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai, chairman of the Taliban political council in Qatar, will attend the meeting, the United States has also confirmed their participation. Regional actors such as Pakistan, China and Iran are among the participants in the meeting organized by Russia.

The first round of the Moscow format took place on April 14, when India was represented by Mittal, alongside deputy foreign ministers and senior officials from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and. The United States had refused to attend the discussions.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the main topic on the agenda is the coordination of regional efforts to facilitate the process of national reconciliation with the aim of restoring peace in Afghanistan. This format has given Moscow a leading position in the situation in Afghanistan, at a time when the United States is giving up space.

The second round, scheduled to take place on 4 September this year, has been postponed. After the Afghan government canceled its participation, India also followed suit on the pretext that it would be untenable for the New Delhi representatives to share the same picture with a Taliban delegation, while the Afghan government elected democratically would remain apart. New Delhi has always asserted that it would engage with the elected government of Afghanistan and that attending the meeting would have legitimized the Taliban.

It is believed that the Afghan government withdrew from the September 4 meeting under pressure from the United States. But this time, he managed to carefully balance Russian and US interests, sending representatives of the Afghan High Peace Council, instead of representatives of his Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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