By PTI
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday held talks with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on the latest developments in Afghanistan as he stopped over in Qatar’s capital Doha on his way back home from a four-day visit to the US.
Doha has been the venue for the intra-Afghan peace talks and Qatar has emerged as a crucial player in facilitating the Afghan peace process.
The Taliban’s political leaders have been residing in the Gulf country for years.
“Met Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani @MBA_AlThani_DPM & FM Qatar during my stop over in Doha. Had useful exchange of views on Afghanistan,” Jaishankar tweeted.
The talks came five days after Afghan capital Kabul fell to the Taliban after it swept across Afghanistan, seizing control of almost all key towns and cities in an over month-long offensive following the withdrawal of the US forces.
The Qatari foreign minister, who also holds the post of deputy prime minister, said the discussions included the recent developments in Afghanistan.
“Delighted to welcome again my colleague @DrSJaishankar, #India’s Minister of External Affairs. Our discussion included ways of developing the historical relations between our two friendly nations, along with the recent developments in #Afghanistan,” he said on Twitter.
On Tuesday, India completed the evacuation of all its diplomats and other staff members from Kabul under a difficult and complicated exercise, two days after the Taliban’s takeover of the Afghan capital.
The mission to evacuate close to 200 people including the Indian envoy and other staffers in two military aircraft was accomplished with support from the US.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said the Taliban has been carrying out door-to-door searches of several embassies in Kabul and had gone to the Indian mission complex as well.
Jaishankar had made two stopovers at Doha in June during his visit to Kenya and Kuwait.
Qatar had also hosted talks between the Taliban and the United States.
Earlier this month, Qatari special envoy for conflict resolution Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani visited India during which he met Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and J P Singh, the Joint Secretary in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
