India will be present at the intra-Afghan talks ceremony that will take place on Saturday. The ceremony starts the process of negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. India will be present along with as many as 30 other countries at the ceremony.
All the countries that border Afghanistan have been invited.
Earlier this year, India was present at the signing of US-Taliban deal, which was signed on February 29 in Doha. The then Indian envoy to Doha P Kumaran represented India.
India is Afghanistan's major development partner and has built the India-Afghanistan friendship dam in the western province of Herat and the Afghan Parliament in the capital Kabul.
The Afghan government negotiating delegation left for Doha on Friday to start peace negotiations with the Taliban group. Afghan government will be represented by the Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mohamamd Hanif Atmar, Afghan President’s Special Representative on Peace Affairs Abdul Salam Rahimi and State Minister for Peace Affairs Seyed Sa’adat Mansour Naderi.
The Afghan government in a statement said, "President Ghani wishes success for the negotiating delegation of the Afghan Government on their mission to bring sustainable peace and stability to the country, which is the long-awaited aspiration of the people of Afghanistan."
The Taliban also in a statement confirmed the beginning of talks saying, "In line with the agreement signed between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States of America, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would like to declare its readiness to partake in the inauguration ceremony of Intra-Afghan Negotiations".
The US welcomed the announcement that Afghanistan peace negotiations saying the "start of these talks marks a historic opportunity for Afghanistan to bring an end to four decades of war and bloodshed" and "this opportunity must not be squandered."
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will travel to Qatar to attend the opening ceremony of Afghanistan peace negotiations.