Deterioration of Afghanistan security a serious matter: Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: As the Taliban-Afghan battles intensify in Afghanistan, foreign minister S. Jaishankar said today the “rapid deterioration of the security situation” was a “serious matter”.
After meeting Qatari special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani Saturday, Jaishankar tweeted, ‘A peaceful and stable Afghanistan requires that the rights and interests of all sections of society are promoted and protected.”
Al-Qahtani, a special envoy of the foreign minister of Qatar for counter-terrorism is on a visit to India ostensibly to discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan. His visit comes a few days before a scheduled meeting of the Russia-led ‘Extended Troika’ grouping to discuss Afghanistan’s future.
Jaishankar” said he “shared the Indian perspective on recent developments in Afghanistan. Also the concerns of the region that I heard during recent interactions.” Unusually, Al Qahtani met joint secretary, JP Singh, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and the external affairs minister, which is generally beyond normal practice.
India chaired a special UNSC meeting on Afghanistan on Friday, where the Afghan envoy to the United Nations Ghulam M Isaczai, declared, “Taliban continue to enjoy a safe haven in and supply and logistics line extended to their war machine from Pakistan." He added, "graphic reports and videos of Taliban fighters congregating close to the Durand Line to enter Afghanistan, fund-raising events, transfer of dead bodies for mass burial, and treatment of injured Taliban in Pakistani hospitals are emerging and are widely available."
The Afghan envoy said it is "not only a naked violation of the 1988 UN Security Council Sanctions Regime but also leads to further erosion of trust and confidence towards establishing a collaborative relationship with Pakistan to end the war in our country." Thanking the UNSC for the special meeting, Afghan foreign minister Haneef Atmar on Saturday also called for a “special session” on Afghanistan to discuss Taliban atrocities.
Taking forward Isaczai’s contention, Rahmatullah Nabil, former head of Afghanistan’s security service, NDS tweeted on Saturday, “… despite differences between the Sunni religious extremist group of Jaish-ul-Adl (who are fighting against Iran) and the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani ISI has sent about 600 Jaish-ul-Adl militants from Dalbandin, Noshki, Mashkeel and Panjgur of Balochistan, to Nimroz, Herat and Farah provinces of AFG with all military equipment, in order to help the Afghan Taliban in fighting.”
This comes on a day when reports said Taliban had taken Zaranj town in Nimroz province.