New Delhi: The US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price cleared the stand of the US on ‘Afghanistan talks’ which are going to be hosted by Russia later this week. “The US will not participate in the Moscow talks. The Troika-plus has been an effective, constructive forum. The US looks forward to engaging in that forum going forward, but we are not in a position to take part this week,”
Price said that the United States is unable to join the talks due to logistic difficulties.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken later in the day announced that U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad is leaving his post and will be replaced by his deputy Thomas West.
According to the Russian media, a delegation of the Taliban will take part in the Moscow-format meeting in Afghanistan. The meeting is being hosted by Russia on October 20. The Moscow format was introduced in 2017 based on the six-party mechanism for consultations between special representatives from Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran, and India.
Afghan Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Abdul Qahar Balkhi on Twitter wrote that Abdul Salam Hanafi – the Deputy Prime Minister of the Interim Government of Afghanistan will lead the delegation.
The Taliban may plan to hold negotiations with representatives of different countries on issues of mutual interest during their visit to Moscow.
India has also confirmed its participation in the talks. The Ministry of External Affairs yesterday said India has received an invitation from the Moscow Format Meeting on Afghanistan on October 20 and will be participating in it.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that “Moscow was expecting the arrival of a large Taliban delegation for consultations on Afghanistan next week. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that preparations for contacts on Afghanistan were underway.”
(_Vinayak Barot)