On Thursday, India issued a warning to Iran and Russia in relation to trying to change the ground situation in Afghanistan by engaging with Taliban. A Ministry of External Affairs official issued a statement in regard to this, “In so far as the Taliban is concerned, they have to respect the internationally agreed red lines, give up terrorism and violence, sever all ties with al-Qaida, agree to follow democratic norms and not do anything which will erode the gains of the last 15 years.”
India and Russia have been strategic partners for a long time. This warning, a result of Moscow’s movements in Afghanistan, came as a surprise. The MEA said these movements could cause trouble with India’s and Russia’s relationship. Vikas Swaroop, an MEA official said, “We do not see any downward trend in our bilateral relationship.” Though the statement is diplomatically apt, it has been noted that India is miffed by Russia’s movements.
Russian envoy Alexander Mantyskiy, in Afghanistan, said that “Russia’s interest in fighting the Daesh are same as Taliban.” He also said that Russia now regards Taliban as ‘national military-political movement’ and ISIS is a Jihadi movement that could destabilize Central Asia that is close to Russia.
Iran has also reached out to the Taliban in the recent past to keep ISIS out of Afghanistan. Based on an Iranian media group, Tehran has invited ‘moderate figure Taliban’ to attend a conference on International Islamic Unity. To quote, ‘Iran has always held contacts with some parties in Taliban movement”
Though Iran denied these claims, Afghan officials accused Tehran of having relations with Taliban commanders and also supplying them advanced weapons to destabilize Afghanistan.
