New Indian envoy meets Afghanistan President Ghani, both sides discuss peace process

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani received the credential of new Indian ambassador Rudrendra Tandon on Saturday and the two sides talked about strategic ties between the neighbours, deepening relations and mutual focus on economic and connectivity opportunities for the region and India's commitment to Afghan peace.

On Friday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday met Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation and discussed the "bilateral cooperation" between the two Asian countries and the pertinent regional issues. Jaishankar expressed India's commitment and cooperation to peace, prosperity and stability in Afghanistan.

After the meeting, Jaishankar took to Twitter stating that he welcomed Abdullah's insights and perspectives on recent development. Even Abdullah echoed similar sentiments in his tweet after the meeting.

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Crucial visit

The influential Afghan leader visited India for the first time after the formation of a new government in Afghanistan. Abdullah's visit to India comes in the midst of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha. He arrived in Delhi on October 6. His trip to India comes at a time when the Afghanistan government and Taliban are putting efforts to negotiate a peace deal in a bid to return stability in the war-ravaged country.

The Afghan Taliban peace talks comprise the first-ever official talks between the two warring sides i.e. Taliban and Afghanistan Government, which began in September in the Gulf state of Qatar, to discuss peace in the region. The insurgent group Taliban had untill recently refused to sit for talks, accusing the Afghanistan government of being 'weak and a puppet of the United States'.

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