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India should be party to talks with Taliban: Karzai

Former Afghan president says India, Iran and Russia should all be present at Taliban talks

Web Desk September 07, 2015

Hamid Karzai. PHOTO: REUTERS

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has urged India to ‘seek’ to be present during Taliban peace talks.

"India, Iran and Russia should all be present," Karzai said during his visit to New Delhi, according to the Times of India.

Karzai, known for anti-Pakistan rhetoric, also asked India to engage more deeply with the Ghani-led Afghan government. "The two countries are intrinsically linked due to common security interests," the former Afghan president said.

The second round of Pakistan-brokered peace talks were postponed after confirmation of the death of Taliban supremo Mullah Omar.

Read: ‘Secret letter’ reveals Afghan pressure on Pakistan

Further, Karzai said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Afghan intelligence service (NDS) and Pakistan's ISI no longer exists.

"No, the MoU does not stand. President Ashraf Ghani and I had a conversation on that which I hope will bear fruit. It's something Afghan people have rejected, because it is against Afghan interests," Karzai said, while addressing the media.

According to reports, Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah is scheduled to visit India on September 17 to hold talks with the Indian government. The visit comes at a time when ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan have hit a low point.

Read: Organisers of terrorist attacks still exist in Pakistan: Afghan president

Abdullah is scheduled to visit India as a result of two big donor conferences in Afghanistan, RECCA along with the Japan-led conference, during with India ensured completion of its ongoing projects. However, according to reports, if the Afghan president is seen leaning towards Pakistan, India will be forced to rethink its engagement priorities in Afghanistan. However, the former seems unlikely.

This article originally appeared on Times of India

COMMENTS (21)

batman | 8 years ago | Reply lol yeah. As long as Pakistan is brokering peace, we would rather have hurriyet leaders than any Indian official involved. Why don't India start brokering peace between Afghan government and Taliban with taking 1.7m Afghans refuges from Pakistan as a start.

amit | 8 years ago | Reply If china is involved, India too should be. We had historical ties to Afghanistan before the Arabs came and settled there.

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PeaceMonger | 8 years ago | Reply There cannot be peace in the region without India being party to any talks.

Lahore Lahore | 8 years ago | Reply On the same token you should be cremated in Delhi ;-)

Vectra | 8 years ago | Reply @Rizwan: "afghan people themselves regard his rule as one of the most corrupt......" It is for afgan people to decide that is their right India has nothing to do with it as India is friend of entire afganistan and its people irrespective of change of government.Last month India started filling up salma dam severlly damage and destroyed by war,New Afgan parliament building will be inagurated in few months,India building Chabahar in Iran and connecting it to Afganistan by roads,Highways and rail link to give afgan people very secure line to access sea and make their nation links with India and rest of world via shipping etc etc.Destruction requires minutes and less effort but building requires long time and enormous effort.

Riaz Papin | 8 years ago | Reply @Careful reader: You seem to be really CARELESS reader..17 million refugees?

Rizwan | 8 years ago | Reply Do our indian neighbors truly think it is a wise idea to offer support and cozy up to Karzai? the afghan people themselves regard his rule as one of the most corrupt and inept rulers in all of afghan history. That combined with the fact that the international community regards his last term as won by corruption and rigging make him extremely unpopular. He was friendly to india, but he is not an asset to india, or anyone for that matter.

Aman | 8 years ago | Reply @careful reader can you say from where you got the figure if 17 million refugees? the total population of Afghanistan itself is around 30 million.

Last Word | 8 years ago | Reply India is an important player in the region who cannot be kept out of the loop. Afghanistan trusts India more than Pakistan and moreover India is engaged in many development projects in this country. Above all, US would prefer Indian presence than Chinese in Afghanistan.

Zia | 8 years ago | Reply Afghanistan was unnecessarily made as a shield to defend Pakistan over the past four decades. We should have let Rissians to deal Pakistan at that time, rather than suffering a huge sacrifice under the name of jihad to protect the interest of Pakistan.

Rex Major | 8 years ago | Reply @Rizkhan: "... claim damages for breaking our social, political and economic structure. ..." Are you sure? Please take a step back and re-analyse the situation. Could the Afghani refugees and for that matter Afghanistan have forced Pakistan and the Pakistanis to do anything that they did not want to do? If not all Pakistanis, some Pakistanis definitely wanted to and profited from the Kalashnikovs, drugs and the other evils which cause pain to a civilized society. The Afghanis were mostly the last mile in the long food chain of guns and drugs. How would you feel if your house had been run over by the neighbors (not just Pakistan - all the players who are keeping Afghanistan boiling) and reduced to rubble, keeping it going for forty years? The same applies to the Afghans. He who invites outsiders to sort out the mess in his house, ends up losing the house.

Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Who cares? He isn't in power. All afghans know how corrupt Karzai was and how he stole power from Abdullah. Afghans do not care for Karzai, or else he wouldn't have needed to rig elections on such a massive scale.

Rizkhan | 8 years ago | Reply We should shift the burden of so called Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan or India and claim damages for breaking our social, political and economic structure. Let them teach how we progress when there is no virus of Afghanistan exist in our land...

Ch. Allah Daad | 8 years ago | Reply Karzai is one of the reasons that I would oppose any refugee in my country. After settling down they start digging grave of the host country. It was Pakistan which helped him to become President but he turned himself into biggest thug and worst enemy of Pakistan.

k4kashmir | 8 years ago | Reply India have been spent over 2bn $ in developments of afganista in the fields like building schools, hospitals, roads, electricity, plants etc. india is spending more than any other country. India have first right in Afghanistan than any other country. karai and afgais are know that very well.

Usman | 8 years ago | Reply Indians dirty fingers in many pies in South Asia are slowly being pulled, and its not happy about it, hence its pawns like Karzai now twitching with an itch.

Careful reader | 8 years ago | Reply It's amazing how ungrateful these afghans are after Pakistan took in 17 million afghan refugees. Do you see how neighbors refuse to take in Syrian refugees ?

Salman - SK | 8 years ago | Reply Well, this should teach Pakistan something, and be an eye-opener for Pakistani. When Russia had taken over Afghanistan in 1980, Pakistan should have sealed the border, and let the Russians deal appropriately with Karzais and Abdullah Abdullahs, and Dostum, and their likes. Instead, Pakistan should have concentrated on its' development and progress and education. But, the military regime of Ziaul Huq indulged in the Jihad against Russians, hosted the displaced Afghanis in Pakistan, introduced the drug and Kalashnikov culture in Pakistan, not to speak of the total social upheaval and Talibanization of Pakistani culture. So, now listen to Karzai and face the music. This is a gift that never stops giving. By the way the Karzais and the Ghanis moved to Pakistan, indulged in thriving businesses, and the relatives are still in Pakistan, as are close to 2 million other Afghanis, according to UNHCR. Check to see if something like this happened in Iran, or India, or China, with the exception of UAE maybe.

amir | 8 years ago | Reply Please try to bring the peace in your country as millions of people are suffering. Try to propose a solution which bring the peace rather than cause interruption. Think about thousands of Afghan refugees who are returning home without any means but Mr Karzi do you really care as you have resturants in USA,

Glowing Pakistan | 8 years ago | Reply I agree on Iran and some about Russia but adding India to these talks are baseless. India has no interest in development of Afghan. They can just support TTP and nothing more.

Ashraf | 8 years ago | Reply Karzai is a true visionary. Pakistan must learn from Afghanistan.

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