India, other countries vow to not recognise Afghan govt imposed by force

Even as the Taliban continued its military advances across Afghanistan; India and Pakistan participated in two separate meetings in Doha and joined China, the United States, the United Kingdom and several other nations to reaffirm that they would not recognize a new government in the war-torn country if it comes to power using military forces.

The nations participating in the back-to-back meetings hosted by the Qatari Government in Doha this week took note of “converging statements” by the Afghan Government and the Taliban on the “guiding principles” for a possible political settlement, like inclusive governance, respect for human rights, including the rights of women and minorities; a mechanism to deliver a representative government, a commitment not to allow any individuals or groups to use the territory of Afghanistan to threaten the security of other countries and respect for international law, including international humanitarian law.

The Qatari Government issued a statement after hosting the representatives of Pakistan, India, China, the United States and other nations in two separate meetings in Doha this week to assess the situation in Afghanistan. The participants of the two meetings reaffirmed that they would not recognize any government in Afghanistan imposed through the use of military force, according to the “Chair’s Statement” issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qatari Government.

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New Delhi has been maintaining that if the Taliban grabs power in Afghanistan through violent means instead of going through a political process, it would lack legitimacy. Pakistan has been drawing flak from President Ashraf Ghani’s government in Kabul for providing support to the Taliban and facilitating its resurgence in Afghanistan. But Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government in Islamabad has now apparently buckled under pressure from the United States and the rest of the international community and vowed not to recognize an Afghan Government if it comes to power in Kabul using military force.

The representatives from Qatar, China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations met in Doha on Tuesday. India did not send any representative to participate in the meeting.

New Delhi, however, sent two senior diplomats – J P Singh and Deepak Mittal – to attend another meeting with the special envoys and representatives of Qatar, Germany, India, Norway, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan in Doha on Thursday. Singh heads the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of the Government of India. Mittal is India’s ambassador to Qatar.

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The participants of the two meetings called for immediate cessation of violence and attacks in and against provincial capitals and other cities, said the Qatari Government in the Chair’s Statement. The call came even as the Taliban continued to advance towards Kabul, after occupying several provincial capitals in northern and southern Afghanistan.

The Afghan Government’s negotiators also had a meeting with the representatives of the Taliban in Doha and offered to clinch a power sharing deal with the Sunni Muslim militants.