Reports claiming External Minister Jaishankar met Taliban leaders are ‘false’

After media had reported that India’s foreign minister S Jaishankar had met Talibani leaders earlier this month while he was in Qatar, on Tuesday sources clarified that these reports have no value and are ‘completely false.’

"We have seen social media reports claiming that the External Affairs Minister has met certain Taliban leaders. Such reports are completely false, baseless, and mischievous,” said a source while talking to a leading daily. The source also assured that any relation that India continues with any country will not be based on the views of Pakistan. 

The refusal came from New Delhi hours after such reports began to circulate on social media. However, it was not an official statement as it has been revealed by an unnamed source.  

The allegations spread like wildfire and people started assuming that India was working in coordination with Taliban leaders to spread unrest in the region. This was after the United States had called for the complete removal of its troops from Afghanistan by August 11. With the decision, the US administration ended nearly 20 years of military presence. 

There are efforts at the world level to make the peace process in Afghanistan a success and all the recent developments in the matter are a sign that it is very well functioning. But it is because of these reports that do not have any basis to it, the developments are slowed down. 

It was Qatari officials who claimed in front of the US diplomats in a webinar that the Indian side was trying to engage with Talibani leaders as the group will be playing a key role in displaying the future of Afghanistan. 

All the countries have decided to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan after the peace process started. Among all that, there is an obvious sense of insecurity among the Afghani population and keeping this in mind the Indian embassy also issued an advisory for all the Indians to be very cautious with their activities.