New Delhi, Oct 10 (UNI) The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan today assured India that it will never allow Afghan territory to be used against any other country.
This assurance was given by visiting Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi during his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here today.
“We will never allow anyone to use Afghanistan’s territory against anyone else,” he said.
FM Muttaqi thanked India for all its help, including being the first responder during last month’s earthquake in Kunar province.
He stressed that the Afghan Taliban government wants relations with India based on mutual respect and people to people relations.
He said Afghanistan is ready to create a consultative mechanism for the strengthening of the bilateral relations with India.
Recalling his meeting with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in January in Dubai, he said it was a good start to their high-level engagement. Following this, Muttaqi said he had two phone calls with EAM Jaishankar.
“I am happy today that I am in Delhi, and this visit will strengthen the understanding between both our countries,” he said.
He expressed hope for increase in the understanding and exchanges between New Delhi and Kabul, including at the official level.
FM Muttaqi recalled that “during the American occupation of Afghanistan there were many ups and downs” but the Afghan Taliban never made any statement against India, and rather had good relations with India.
Terming the Daesh as a threat, he said the Afghan Taliban is working to eradicate the terrorist entity, known as Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) from Afghanistan. He said the two sides need to combat the menace of terrorism together.
