Katrin Fidencio, USA

Author & Journalist

San Diego, USA

India should establish ties based on national and mutual interest with the Taliban government in Kabul and sever all links with the former Ashraf Ghani government, according to Suhail Shaheen, head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha and official spokesperson.

In an exclusive interview, the Taliban leader said India should seek to have deeper ties with the people of Afghanistan and should reopen its embassy in Kabul. He said that the Taliban was committed to providing full security to Indian diplomats.

“We have announced time and again that it is our commitment to provide security to all diplomats working in Kabul. It is our responsibility and we have proved that. There are many embassies working in Kabul and we have provided full security to them. That also includes India if they want to open their embassy”, Shaheen said.

He said, “They (India) are welcome if they want to complete their projects or to initiate new ones. India should not have relations and base all their relations on the individual lens of those officials of the former Kabul administration who are now in western countries living along with their families. But should have a relationship with the people of Afghanistan, they were there, they are there, and they will be there. So that is good for them. We are now two independent governments and countries and we should have relations on the basis of national interest and on the basis of equality and mutual interest.”

India had shut down its embassy in Kabul in August 2021 when the Taliban took over Kabul. Prior to that, India had also closed down its consulates in Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar, Herat, and Jalalabad.

Since the Taliban takeover, India has sent several batches of humanitarian aid and assistance to Afghanistan from food grains, medicines, and other essential items.

More by Taliban’s:

Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has issued an order banning polygamy among members of the group terming it “unnecessary and costly,” Kabul-based Bakhtar News Agency reported on Saturday.

The country, which is an ‘Islamic emirate’ governed under Sharia laws, allows for men to have up to four wives. Polygamy is widely practiced in Afghanistan. The absence of offspring from the first marriage is believed to be the primary reason Afghan men take multiple wives.

However, Akhundzada has emphasised how “Taliban members should avoid second, third and fourth marriages” as it’s an expensive affair. The order further instructed the Amr-ul-Ma’ruf Ministry (Ministry of Enforcement of Virtue and Suppression of Vice) to “identify violators and report to the leadership.”

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# Fidencio is an author and journalist: Ed. Upadhyaya.

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