New Delhi, Nov 16 (UNI) Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday held talks with visiting US Special Representative Thomas West and exchanged views on the recent developments in Afghanistan, days after India held NSA-level talks on Afghanistan.
The talks were also attended by JP Singh, Joint Secretary in charge of the Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran Division, in the Ministry of External Affairs, who had met a Taliban delegation led by Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, on October 20 in Moscow.
MEA spokesperson in a tweet said: “Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla met US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West @US4AfghanPeace and exchanged views on recent developments and issues of common interest in Afghanistan.”
The talks also come days after West was in Islamabad to attend the Troika Plus talks, participated by the special representatives of the US, Russia, China and Pakistan, on November 11. West has taken over as chief interlocutor from Zalmay Khalilzad who stepped down last month.
The November 10 talks hosted by India, called the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, were attended by the security chiefs of Russia, Iran, and the five Central Asian countries.
The meeting today also comes as the Taliban has requested Pakistan to allow Indian trucks carrying 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and other aid to travel to Afghanistan, which is in dire need of food and medicines. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan assured a Taliban delegation, led by Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, last week that he would allow access to Indian trucks carrying aid to Afghanistan "on exceptional basis".
UNI/RN