External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart in the Iranian Government, Javad Zarif, discussed the situation in Afghanistan during a phone call on Wednesday.
Jaishankar spoke to Zarif just days before the proposed visit of United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to India.
The two ministers also reviewed bilateral relations apart from exchanging views on important regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Iranian Government said after the talks between Jaishankar and Zarif.
They discussed the resurgence of the Taliban after the withdrawal of troops by the US. The Taliban has already occupied a large number of districts in Afghanistan. The talks between the representatives of President Ashraf Ghani’s government in Kabul and the civil society of Afghanistan with the leaders of the Taliban in Doha failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire during the Eid-al-Adha.
The Taliban continued its military offensives during the festival and even fired rockets during prayers on the occasion of the Eid-al-Adha at the presidential palace in Kabul.
“Good to talk to Iranian FM @Jzarif. A productive conversation on our ties,” Jaishankar tweeted after speaking to his counterpart in Tehran.
The External Affairs Minister also had an in-person meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister during his visit to Tehran on July 7 – the same day the government of the Persian Gulf nation hosted representatives of both the Afghan Government and the Taliban for talks.
(Published 21 July 2021, 13:43 IST)
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