India can play key role in Afghan peace process: Abdullah Abdullah

India could play a vital role in establishing lasting peace in Afghanistan, said Abdullah Abdullah, who leads the council constituted by the conflict-ravaged country’s government to hold talks with the Taliban.

The proposal for New Delhi to play a greater role in the peace process between the existing government of President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul and the Taliban came amid growing concerns in India about the possibility of Pakistan and China gaining undue advantage out of it and elbowing India out of Afghanistan.

Abdullah, who is currently on a visit to New Delhi, on Thursday had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reiterated India’s “commitment towards sustainable peace and prosperity in Afghanistan and welcomed efforts towards a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan”, according to a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) of Afghanistan briefed the prime minister about the peace process the Afghan government recently launched with the Taliban and the talks being held at Doha in Qatar.

“In our friendly discussion we took stock of the latest developments on the #AfghanPeaceProcess (Afghan Peace Process), the talks in Doha, & (and) India’s support for the peace efforts,” Abdullah tweeted after meeting Modi. He also added that the Modi had assured him of India’s “continued support for the peace process and Afghanistan”.

He later spoke on the peace process during a speech at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA). He urged New Delhi to play a greater role in the ongoing talks between the Afghan government’s peace council and the Taliban.

He said the Afghans could now see some light at the end of the tunnel after years of ravaging war and would now come together to build a peaceful country, which would remain friends with the neighbourhood and beyond and be able to contribute to peace and security in the region.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on September 12 virtually participated in the ceremony held in Doha to mark the beginning of the formal negotiations between the Ghani’s Government in Kabul and the Taliban.

He reiterated India’s position that any peace process in Afghanistan must be “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled” and must respect the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan.

He also said the peace process must preserve the progress made in the establishment of a democratic Islamic Republic in Afghanistan after the fall of Taliban in 2001. The interests of the minorities, women and vulnerable sections of society must be preserved, he added.

India over the past few years contributed over $ 3 billion to support the reconstruction of infrastructure in Afghanistan. It, however, refrained from sending troops to Afghanistan and kept its military support to the conflict-hit country limited to providing training to officials and soldiers of the Afghan National Army and the supply of non-lethal defence hardware.

It was in December 2015 that India started providing MI-25 helicopters to give some teeth to the Afghan Air Force.