Dubai, United Arab Emirates:

A high-level meeting between the Afghan Taliban leadership and senior Indian officials was organised is Dubai on Wednesday. From India, foreign secretary Vikram Misri attended the meeting, while from Afghanistan the acting foreign minister of the Taliban government Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi was present.

The meeting assumes significance as New Delhi and Kabul aim to foster ties in order to enhance cooperation between the two countries. Though New Delhi has continued aiding Afghanistan in a limited capacity, much of its bilateral ties has remained dormant since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.

The agenda for the meeting in Dubai was to boost bilateral ties between the two nations across varied sectors, including humanitarian aid, developmental assistance, trade, commerce, sports, cultural ties, regional security, and projects of national interest, such as the Chabahar Port in Iran, which acts as a key supply route for goods to reach Afghanistan. India and Afghanistan share a land border too, but that has remained cut-off by Pakistan-occupied Kashmir or PoK since 1947.

In the meeting India pledged further humanitarian support to Afghanistan. This included priority assistance in the healthcare sector, supply of medicines, and rehabilitation of refugees. New Delhi has so far dispatched several shipments consisting of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat, 300 tonnes of medicines, 27 tonnes of earthquake relief aid, 40,000 litres of pesticides, 100 million polio doses, 1.5 million doses of the Covid vaccine, 11,000 units of hygiene kits for the drug de-addiction programme, 500 units of winter clothing and 1.2 tonnes of stationery kits, over the past few years.

The Afghan Minister appreciated and thanked the Indian leadership for continuing to engage and support the people of Afghanistan.

New Delhi has also conveyed to Kabul its readiness to respond to the urgent developmental needs of the Afghan people. “In view of the current need for development activities, it was decided that India would consider engaging in development projects in the near future,” the foreign ministry said.

As talks progressed, Afghanistan’s foreign minister underlined Kabul’s sensitivities to India’s regional security concerns and assured full cooperation in this regard. According to a press statement “It was also agreed to promote the use of Chabahar port for supporting trade and commercial activities, including for the purpose of humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan.”

Mr Misri also underscored the importance India gives to its historic, civilisational, and cultural ties with Afghanistan. “The foreign secretary underlined India’s historic friendship with the Afghan people and the strong people-to-people contacts between the two countries,” the foreign ministry said.

Foreign Secy @VikramMisri met Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai today.

Both sides discussed ’s ongoing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, bilateral issues and security situation in the region. India reiterated its commitment to… pic.twitter.com/a3UyuIqkAG

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) January 8, 2025

Sports, especially cricket, which is loved in both countries also figured in the talks. Both sides agreed to strengthen sporting ties.

Wednesday’s meeting between the two sides comes two days after New Delhi severely condemned the recent Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan that killed 46 people, including several women and children. The Pakistani air strikes were carried out on December 24. It invited massive criticism and a stern warning from the Afghan government.

Pakistani air strikes hit Barmal district in Afghanistan’s Paktika province. This was the second time in 2024 that Islamabad directly targeted “civilian areas” in Afghanistan, said the government in Kabul. In March 2024 too, a similar air strike by Pakistan had killed eight people, including three children.

On Monday, India strongly condemned Pakistan over the air strikes, saying it is Islamabad’s “old practice” to blame its neighbours for its failures within the country. “We have noted the media reports on airstrikes on Afghan civilians, including women and children, in which several precious lives have been lost. We unequivocally condemn any attack on innocent civilians. It is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures. We have also noted the response of an Afghan spokesperson in this regard,” India’s foreign ministry said.

The Taliban, a predominantly Pashtun tribe which has a large presence across Afghanistan, is an ultra-conservative political and religious hardliner group. It refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban which was the government in Afghanistan in 1996, was overthrown by the US-led military coalition in 2001 after Washington launched its ‘war against terror’ focusing on the Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Twenty years later, in 2021, when the US military left Afghanistan abruptly, the Afghan Taliban swept across the nation and regained its political importance by forming the government in the war-torn country.
 

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addresses a press conference in New Delhi on October 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

In a dramatic development, India and China have reached an agreement on “patrolling arrangements ” and a resolution of the military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) , the government announced on Monday (October 21, 2024). The patrolling arrangement agreement extends beyond the areas along the LAC where there has already been a disengagement of military personnel over the past few years, and include the so far unresolved areas of Demchok and Depsang, sources told The Hindu, indicating that the India-China standoff since April 2020 is now expected to be resolved.

While the MEA did not give further details of the agreement, and whether there would be a reversion to the status quo pre-2020, and whether the “buffer zones” more recently created would continue to exist for patrolling purposes”, Mr. Misri said that the two sides had “reached an agreement on the issues that were being discussed”

The announcement, by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, came amidst a media briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia for the BRICS summit on Tuesday which he will attend along with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Over the last several weeks, Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other in a variety of forums, and as a result of these discussions, agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the line of actual control in the India-China border areas, leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” Mr. Misri told journalists adding that the two sides would now take the “next steps” on this.

The timing of the India-China agreement announcement, just a day before the BRICS Summit indicates that a meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi on the side-lines, that has been speculated about is now expected to take place. Although the two leaders met as many as 18 times prior to the Galwan clashes in June 2020 , where 20 Indian soldiers were killed, they have spoken only twice since then, on the side-lines of the G-20 summit in Indonesia in 2022, and the BRICS summit in South Africa in 2023.

 Mr. Misri did not confirm a meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi , he said that government is discussing the scheduling of a number of bilateral meetings in Kazan, the venue of the BRICS summit.

“[BRICS] is a multilateral event, though, of course, there is always a provision for bilateral meetings on the sidelines. We are currently looking into the overall program of the Prime Minister. There are a number of requests for bilateral meetings, and we will update you on the bilaterals as they evolve, as soon as feasible,” Mr. Misri told journalists when asked, not denying that a meeting with the Chinese leader was among those.

Mr. Misri, who was previously India’s Ambassador to China, and was no doubt, a key part of the recent negotiations, did not give further details of the agreement between both sides. He referred to recent meetings that had led to the breakthrough, which include two meetings between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese FM Wang Yi in June-July, two meetings of the WMCC mechanism of diplomatic and military officials in July-August, followed by a meeting between NSA Ajit Doval and Mr. Wang, who is also the Special Representative on border talks in September. These were followed by intense negotiations of military commanders and MEA officials in the last few weeks. With Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi’s travels to Russia for the BRICS confirmed, a deadline appeared to have emerged for the negotiations to conclude with a result. 

New Delhi:

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday said that the upcoming visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Quad summit emphasises several important aspects, including bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral, and asserted that the agenda of the summit includes developing Indo-Pacific region, and implementing Sustainable Development Goals.

The remarks by Mr Misri came during a briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States for the upcoming Quad summit.

Elaborating on the events which will be taking place in the US during PM Modi’s visit, Mr Misri said, “PM Modi will be visiting the US from September 21-23. This visit combines very important aspects. It has very important bilateral aspect to it, very important plurilateral aspects to it and equally important multilateral aspect to it. There will be interaction with a variety of foreign partners at the level of the Prime Minister. There will be interaction with the large Indian community in the US. And there will be engagement with a host of business and industry leaders, amongst others.”

He added, “PM’s first talk will be in Wilmington, Delaware, which is the hometown of President Joe Biden. That is also the venue of this sixth Quad summit…”

Mr Misri further informed that from Wilmington, the PM will travel to New York, to attend the Summit of the Future. He said, “He (PM Modi) will also have a number of engagements throughout these three days. On September 21, there will be Quad summit; the bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Quad summit. A special event on the sidelines of Quad summit will be Cancer Moonshot event. On September 22, PM will have an interaction with the Indian community. This is being organised by the community in Long Island, New York…”

Speaking on the objective of the Cancer Moonshot initiative, Mr Misri said, “Through the Cancer Moonshot initiative, the Quad aims to implement innovative strategies to prevent, detect, treat, and alleviate the impact of cancer on patients and their families, and to begin with, we intend to collaborate to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The Foreign Secretary also said that PM Modi will engage with several tech CEOs during his three day visit. “There will be a technology roundtable with a number of tech CEOs where we will have the opportunity to discuss the tech investment landscape and the opportunities that are available here,” Mr Misri said. “There will be several other meetings with stakeholders and bilateral meetings with head of states,” he added.

“On September 23, PM will address the Summit of the Future in the United Nations General Assembly. There are a few more bilateral meetings that are being fixed up on that day,” Mr Misri informed.

Elaborating on the agenda of Quad, Mr Misri said that the Quad’s constructive agenda continues to “develop the Indo-Pacific, implementing Sustainable Development Goals, delivering public goods, and having a strong focus on peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

He added, “Our agenda includes covering health security, climate change, critical and emerging technology, HADR, connectivity, maritime security, and counter-terrorism.”

The Foreign Secretary also noted that the upcoming visit offers the Quad leaders, the opportunity to view progress achieved in the last one year and set the agenda for the next year.

Elaborating on the bilateral meetings with President Biden, Mr Misri said that the India and US will exchange agreements. “At the bilarteral meeting with President Joe Biden, there will be an opportunity for both sides to exchange a few agreements — Indo-Pacific economy related framework agreements, and India-US drug framework,” Mr Misri said.

On the possibility of meeting with former US President Donald Trump, Mr Misri said, “There are many meetings with the Prime Minister right now which we are trying to fix. Right now, I will not be able to tell you about any specific meeting, whether the meeting has been fixed or not. We are looking from all angles as to how much time we have and with whom we can hold meetings. We will keep updating you about the meetings.”

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States from September 21 to 23 during which he will take part in the Quad Summit and address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

PM Modi will take part in the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, which is being hosted by US President Joe Biden on September 21. Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025.

At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations, a Ministry of External Affairs release said.

PM Modi will address ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. The theme of the Summit is ‘Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’.

Quad is a diplomatic partnership between four countries–Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. It is pertinent to note that in recent years, Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times, and Quad governments continue to meet and coordinate at all levels.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday said that the upcoming visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Quad summit emphasises several important aspects, including bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral, and asserted that the agenda of the summit includes developing Indo-Pacific region, and implementing Sustainable Development Goals.

The remarks by Mr Misri came during a briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States for the upcoming Quad summit.

Elaborating on the events which will be taking place in the US during PM Modi’s visit, Mr Misri said, “PM Modi will be visiting the US from September 21-23. This visit combines very important aspects. It has very important bilateral aspect to it, very important plurilateral aspects to it and equally important multilateral aspect to it. There will be interaction with a variety of foreign partners at the level of the Prime Minister. There will be interaction with the large Indian community in the US. And there will be engagement with a host of business and industry leaders, amongst others.”

He added, “PM’s first talk will be in Wilmington, Delaware, which is the hometown of President Joe Biden. That is also the venue of this sixth Quad summit…”

Mr Misri further informed that from Wilmington, the PM will travel to New York, to attend the Summit of the Future. He said, “He (PM Modi) will also have a number of engagements throughout these three days. On September 21, there will be Quad summit; the bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Quad summit. A special event on the sidelines of Quad summit will be Cancer Moonshot event. On September 22, PM will have an interaction with the Indian community. This is being organised by the community in Long Island, New York…”

Speaking on the objective of the Cancer Moonshot initiative, Mr Misri said, “Through the Cancer Moonshot initiative, the Quad aims to implement innovative strategies to prevent, detect, treat, and alleviate the impact of cancer on patients and their families, and to begin with, we intend to collaborate to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The Foreign Secretary also said that PM Modi will engage with several tech CEOs during his three day visit. “There will be a technology roundtable with a number of tech CEOs where we will have the opportunity to discuss the tech investment landscape and the opportunities that are available here,” Mr Misri said. “There will be several other meetings with stakeholders and bilateral meetings with head of states,” he added.

“On September 23, PM will address the Summit of the Future in the United Nations General Assembly. There are a few more bilateral meetings that are being fixed up on that day,” Mr Misri informed.

Elaborating on the agenda of Quad, Mr Misri said that the Quad’s constructive agenda continues to “develop the Indo-Pacific, implementing Sustainable Development Goals, delivering public goods, and having a strong focus on peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

He added, “Our agenda includes covering health security, climate change, critical and emerging technology, HADR, connectivity, maritime security, and counter-terrorism.”

The Foreign Secretary also noted that the upcoming visit offers the Quad leaders, the opportunity to view progress achieved in the last one year and set the agenda for the next year.

Elaborating on the bilateral meetings with President Biden, Mr Misri said that the India and US will exchange agreements. “At the bilarteral meeting with President Joe Biden, there will be an opportunity for both sides to exchange a few agreements — Indo-Pacific economy related framework agreements, and India-US drug framework,” Mr Misri said.

On the possibility of meeting with former US President Donald Trump, Mr Misri said, “There are many meetings with the Prime Minister right now which we are trying to fix. Right now, I will not be able to tell you about any specific meeting, whether the meeting has been fixed or not. We are looking from all angles as to how much time we have and with whom we can hold meetings. We will keep updating you about the meetings.”

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States from September 21 to 23 during which he will take part in the Quad Summit and address the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

PM Modi will take part in the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, which is being hosted by US President Joe Biden on September 21. Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025.

At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations, a Ministry of External Affairs release said.

PM Modi will address ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. The theme of the Summit is ‘Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’.

Quad is a diplomatic partnership between four countries–Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. It is pertinent to note that in recent years, Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times, and Quad governments continue to meet and coordinate at all levels.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)