In a subtle but significant shift in policy, New Delhi sent two “non-official” observers to Moscow, which hosted talks with the Taliban and representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US, Iran, China and five Central Asian nations on Friday. New Delhi insisted that it was in line with its consistent position that any peace effort in Afghanistan had to be Afghan-led and initiated.
But the fact remains that India as well as Kabul see the Pakistan-sponsored Taliban as part of the problem, and not a solution. In fact, the Moscow meeting was initially scheduled for September but was postponed after Kabul insisted the process should be Afghan-led. It was after Kabul relented and agreed to send members of the High Peace Council (HPC), a government-appointed body responsible for reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, that New Delhi too confirmed attendance.
Though Russia boasted that the talks marked the first time that a Taliban delegation had taken part in such a high-level international meeting, and that the participants “agreed to continue consultations within the framework of this mechanism,” the fact remains that the talks yielded no tangible results. While the Afghan HPC reiterated the offer for direct unconditional talks, the Taliban insisted that it “does not recognise the current government as legal and therefore we won’t hold talks with them”, and that “considering our main demand is the withdrawal of foreign forces, we will discuss a peaceful resolution with the Americans.”
This puts the US—keen to withdraw its troops from the country—in a bind, because any direct talks with the Taliban would be unacceptable to the Afghan government. And Pakistan, while mouthing support for an Afghan-led solution, is adamant that the Taliban—an Islamic fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001—must be a part of any new dispensation in Afghanistan. New Delhi’s decision to sit across the table with the Taliban instead of watching from the wings must be seen in that context. As for Afghanistan, the Great Game continues.