Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 8
Taliban is a threat to regional stakeholders and New Delhi could use Tehran’s influence to engage it if it wishes, an official said on Tuesday.
The official was reacting to reports of the first official meeting Iran held with Taliban in Abu Dhabi last week. Iran had maintained contact with Taliban, which controls some territory adjacent to its border with Afghanistan. This is the first time the two sides have come on the table for official talks.
“We have some influence on Taliban that we are ready to use. If India wants to use its channel like Pakistan, we are ready. Some are trying to super-impose regional powers,” said the official who denied reports that Chabahar port project was discussed during the talks.
Indian principled position so far has been to engage in any dialogue with Taliban only if the democratically-elected Afghanistan government is represented in the room. For the first time ever, Indian representatives shared room at the Moscow format of talks in November last year with a delegation from Political Office of Taliban in Doha, with Afghan High Peace Council members and other countries in attendance. However, New Delhi claimed that the representation was at ‘non-official level’ with no change in its principled position on talks with Taliban.
The official privy to Iranian government discussions also underlined that with troop drawdown imminent in Afghanistan, it is important to ensure “Taliban is not exploited by the US to create instability in the region or by UAE and Qatar to create havoc in the neighbourhood”.
“We need Taliban as a participant but not as dominating participant. A Taliban-dominated Afghanistan is a security threat to Indian and Iran but is an existential threat to Pakistan. This is exactly what we have been telling Pakistan and they do not disagree,” the source said.
The official hoped that US, which has given India a temporary waiver from sanctions, realises importance of Chabahar port project for development and economy of Afghanistan and can be fully utilised once connected to the Iranian railway system. He added that Chabhar needs more players and countries, including Japan and China.