Senior Taliban leader Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanekzai had reportedly reached out to India and requested it to continue the diplomatic relations by retaining its embassy in Afghanistan.
Stanekzai, who is a top leader in the Talibani ranks, conveyed his request informally shortly before India decided to evacuate 200 people from Afghanistan – including envoys, diplomats and citizens on Monday and Tuesday, Hindustan Times reported.
This comes as a surprise considering that Stanekzai had openly criticized India’s activity and presence in Afghanistan in the past.
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Stanekzai is a part of the Taliban’s leadership which has its main office in Doha, Qatar. He is often considered as number 2 in the Taliban’s negotiation team and the third most important member in the militia’s ranking order.
Moreover, Stanekzai acknowledged India’s concern over the security situation in Kabul following the Taliban’s takeover on Sunday and reassured New Delhi that it should not worry about the safety of its mission and diplomats in the Afghan capital, Hindustan Times reported.
Reinforcing his security assurance, Stanekzai referred to the fighters from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) who were in Kabul. He said that they are deployed at check posts set up by the Taliban on the route to the airport and contended that all check posts, including those at the airport, were firmly in the hands of the Taliban.
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Meanwhile, India said that it had received intelligence reports regarding certain “rogue elements” and members of LeT and Haqqani Network entering Kabul with the Taliban.
After making a quick assessment, India was not ready to take the Taliban’s commitment to security at face value and thus decided to evacuate Indian diplomats as planned, according to the HT report.
There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the development.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen had tweeted on August 16, “we assure all diplomats, embassies, consulates, and charitable workers, whether they are international or national that not only no problem will be created for them on the part of IEA but a secure environment will be provided to them, Inshallah."
