"Spinning Charkha can't change Taliban," Maj Gen Bakshi tells proponents of 'recognise' Taliban' ecosystem
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| Different Mood: Blogger |
New Delhi: An effort by a section of politicians and so-called intellectual liberals, known for their leanings, to push the Indian government to recognise and have greater engagement with the Taliban has been flayed caustically.
"Mr Kulkarni (Sudheendra), you want to send the Indian embassy back to Kabul. Who looks after the security of Kabul, the Haqani group. They attacked the Indian embassy last year, killed 30 Indians.I know it does not matter to you, you are lofty. You are beyond all these. We are ordinary Indians who get killed,"an angry Maj Gen (Retd) Gagandeep Bakshi said participating in a debate on TimesNow.
Maj Gen Bakshi
He said in 1999-2000,the Indian government was forced to release terrorist Masood Azhar, who is the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed and that similar things can happen even now if Indian embassy staffers are taken hostage by the terror groups.
"Can you wake up to reality...," he thundered, adding "please listen to your soldiers, we have fought for this country".
The angry outbursts came in reference to an Appeal by Sudheendra Kulkarni and 11 others including the likesof former foreign ministers Natwar Singh and Yashwant Sinha and diplomat-turned-Congress leader Mani ShankarAiyar.
The letter among other things stressed that India should "continue to engage with the Taliban".
The 'appeal' communique welcomed India's envoy to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, meeting Taliban representative in Dohaon August 31 and said "there should be no discrimination on grounds of religion in providing shelter to Afghans who have been forced to leave their country".
The signatories to the 'appeal' include Julio Reberio (former cop), Najeeb Jung (former Lt. Governor of Delhi).Saeed Naqvi (writer), former diplomat K C Singh, Gandhian Sandeep Pandey, former MPs Majeed Memonand Shahid Siddiqui.
They also say: "No country in the region should be excluded from, nor isolate itself from collaborative efforts to bring peace in Afghanistan and promote national reconciliation".
A visibly disturbed Maj Gen (Retd) Bakshi said, "Why are you (to those who wrote the Appeal) putting Indian lives (at risk) by giving them away so cheap".
He, however, said interacting with Taliban for a limited role to bring back stranded Indians from Afghanistan was okay, but he was against the idea of greater engagement or giving recognition to the Taliban.
Asserting that the Taliban are not the ones to be influenced positively by Gandhian philosophy, Bakshi said, "You want to spin Charkha to them, please try it".
In fact, ever since the high speed with which the Taliban took control of things in Afghanistan long before the US withdrew the forces, 'sickular' elements in India have been pushing the government to recognise Taliban.
"Spin the Charkha, while Indians die....," Bakshi said.
In the meeting with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Head of Taliban’s Political Office in Doha, on August 31, Ambassador Deepak Mittal raised India’s concern that Afghanistan’s soil "should not be used" for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner.
The discussions focused on safety, security and early return of Indian nationals stranded in Afghanistan.
The travel of Afghan nationals, especially minorities, who wish to visit India also came up.
"The Taliban Representative assured the Ambassador that these issues would be positively addressed," an MEA release said.
Focus Afghanistan: Jaishankar tele talks with Iranian, UK and Canadian counterparts
New Delhi:
Post-US withdrawal Afghanistan and all matters related to this war-hit country are now the talk of the town specially in diplomatic levels.
On the eve of his three-national tour of Slovenia, Croatia and Denmark, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar kept himself busy on Wednesday and held crucial rounds of tele talks with his counterparts in Iran, Britain and Canada.
"A warm congratulatory call to Iranian Foreign Minister H..Amirabdollahian," Jaishankar tweeted adding that both sides agreed to strengthen the bilateral cooperation.
"Discussed pressing regional issues. Appreciate Iran's facilitation of our repatriation flights from Afghanistan" he wrote.
He also received a call from the Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau.
Both of them had "good discussion on the challenges of Afghanistan", Jaishankar wrote on the micro blogging site.
In another missive the External Affairs Minister wrote: "Nice speaking again to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
"Conversation focused on Afghanistan related developments," he wrote.
All these three interactions have their own significance respectively as all three are crucial players in both regional and global contexts.
Canada has announced that it would not recognise the incoming Taliban-led dispensation in Kabul.
"The use of force by the Taliban is completely unacceptable and that's why today I am announcing that a Conservative government will not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month within days of the fall of Kabul.
Iran is always a crucial player in the region as it shares borders with Afghanistan and is strategically not disinclined to have formal ties with the Taliban.
The IS considers Shias as infidels and this never went down well with Iran.
Taliban has been a monopoly of Sunnis and Iran is a well known Shia powerhouse.
The United Kingdom had played a crucial role at the UNSC meeting on August 30 which adopted the resolution on Afghanistan situation.
The UK has also launched talks with the Taliban to secure safe passage out of Afghanistan for a number of British nationals and Afghans.
The talks, involving UK officials and senior Taliban members, are taking place in Doha, Qatar.
On Tuesday, for the first time making it formal, in a statement the MEA acknowledged that Indian envoy to
Qatar, Deepak Mittal, has met a senior Taliban representative .Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai,
Indian officials, however, say just interaction is not recognition of Taliban regime by the Modi government.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Indo-US 2+2 meeting likely to be held soon.
The United States would host the crucial meet this year. Coming after the fall of Afghanistan,
the meeting would have crucial significance for both sides.
In September 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar hosted
the then US Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, and Secretary of Defence, Mark T. Esper for the meet
in New Delhi for the third annual India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
The India-U.S. relationship has been elevated now to a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership status.
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| Tough job for Team Namo |
France has admired efforts made by India during its month-long presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which ended on August 31.
During India's presidentship, the Council adopted a resolution on Afghanistan and earlier one on maritime security.
French ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain said that France will continue to work closely with India at the UNSC.
"In a challenging context, India's presidency of the #UNSC in August helped steer the Council's response to the situation in #Afghanistan and make progress on key issues such as #maritime security. France will continue to work closely with India at #UNSC," tweeted Lenain.
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