Abdullah Abdullah with Indian ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon.
As a planned visit by Afghan Army Chief General Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai to India this week was cancelled amid increased Taliban offensive in Afghanistan, New Delhi feels that the next two to three months will be crucial for Afghanistan’s future.
In Kabul, Afghan leader Abdullah Abdullah met Indian ambassador to Afghanistan, Rudrendra Tandon, and discussed the situation there.
India has been pushing for a political solution that could be in the form of a broad-based, power-sharing agreement with the continuation of the current system of governance.
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Gen Ahmadzai was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday on a three-day visit to explore ways to deepen bilateral military ties.
“The visit by our Army Chief has been postponed due to intensity of war and Taliban’s increased assault and offensive,” the Afghan embassy official said.
According to another official, the visit is likely to take place at a later stage.
As the Taliban continues its offensive, Pakistan has been keeping its supply lines open as well as providing tactical and logistics support to the outfit.
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According to the assessment by India and several other countries, the Afghan National Security Forces are capable of defending the country but they need international support to deal with the Taliban offensive.
Afghanistan has been reaching out to its key allies in seeking support to strengthen its forces.
Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More