Afghan deputy FM & newly-appointed Indian envoy Rudrendra Tandon meet for the first time

Afghanistan Deputy Foreign Minister Mirwais Naibhad an introductory meeting with the recently appointed Indian Ambassador Rudrendra Tandon on October 17. The Indian Embassy in Afghanistan said in a statement that Naibhad and Tandon discussed the matters of mutual interest and even agreed on working on them. Tandon also presented his credentials to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the Presidential Palace.

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Earlier, Afghanistan’s peace council chief Dr Abdullah Abdullah had said that he did not discuss India’s military role in Afghanistan during his extensive talks with the Indian leadership over the peace process. Dr Abdullah was on a five-day visit to India to gather regional support for the Afghan peace process and met several top Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister, to discuss the entire matter.

"No. Absolutely not. I did not raise that idea. The point is that we hope that Afghanistan will be able to stand on its own feet," Abdullah told ANI on being asked if any probable military role of India a part of their discussion.

India-Afghanistan relations

India and Afghanistan have “string relationship” that is based on historical and cultural links of the nations. As per the official note by the Indian Embassy in Kabul, the relations between the counties has laid its foundations in the historical contacts as well as the exchanges between the people. Most recently, the relations have further enhanced by the Strategic PratnershipAgreement signed in October 2011. Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also visited Afghanistan on June 4, 2016, when he along with Ghani inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam.

Since then, several other officials from both countries have visited the other nation to make the bilateral relationship more strong. Recently amid the COVID-19 pandemic, As per Indian Commission “major humanitarian” assistance was given by India to Afghanistan. This year, India has committed to delivering 75,000 MT of wheat to Afghanistan. India has even undertaken the supply of 5 lakh tables of antiviral drug, hydroxychloroquine, one lakh tablets of paracetamol and 50,000 pairs of surgical gloves to the Afghan government in 2020.

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(with ANI inputs)

Image credits: @IndianEmbKabul/Twitter