Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the NSA of seven countries, in New Delhi on November 10, 2021.
Kabul: Taliban on Thursday welcomed the first regional meeting on Afghanistan convened by India and reiterated its stated policy that "its land will not be used against any country".
"The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) welcomes the India meeting. We are trying to take solid steps in governance, and countries should not be worried about Afghanistan soil being used against anyone," TOLO news quoted deputy spokesman for the foreign ministry, Inamullah Samangani as saying.
In an audio statement released hours after the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan chaired by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval wrapped up its deliberations, the Taliban regime's spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said:
"Though we are not present in this conference, we firmly believe that this conference is in the better interest of Afghanistan as the entire region is considerate of the current Afghan situation and the participating countries also must be thoughtful of improving and safeguarding the security situation in Afghanistan and helping the current government to ensure security in the country on its own".
The Delhi Security Dialogue held saw an "extraordinary degree of convergence" on the assessments of the situation in Afghanistan and the principal challenges in the country and the region, sources said.
Convened less than three months after the withdrawal of the last U.S. and Western forces from Kabul, the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue for Afghanistan was attended by representatives from India, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
"World countries are trying to bring their wishes via negotiations to the Taliban and these meetings have a positive result for Afghanistan," the news channel quoted a political analyst, Sayed Haroon Hashimi as saying.
"The India meeting is effective for Afghanistan because India is one of the aid-providing countries to Afghanistan and it is now also interested in supporting Afghanistan," TOLO news quoted an international relations analyst, Sayed Hakim Kamal as saying.