The US-Taliban deal, signed on Saturday, may have put a deadline on the reduction of American forces to 8,600 in 135 days. But the real negotiations will start now, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar said referring to the upcoming intra-Afghan talks slated to be held on March 10 in Oslo.
“To my mind, the real negotiations will start now,'' said Jaishankar, responding to a question after his key note address at the Centre for Policy Research Dialogues. “Then we have to see that many of the assumptions that we had—how cohesive are various players, what do they do, what are their demands, and finally do the Taliban join a democratic set up or does a democratic set up adjust to the Taliban. I think those are all issues for which right now there are no clear answers,” the minister said.
The deal paves for the quick exit of US forces from Afghanistan in keeping with President Donald Trump's promise just before the country goes to polls again. It has security implications for India as Taliban have close links with Pakistan. India sent an observer to witness the signing of the deal on Saturday. While the implications for India—and Afghanistan—may be still unclear, the deal has been a win for the Taliban as this granted them international legitimacy
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Jaishankar, however, is optimistic. “I would remind people that this is not the Afghanistan of 2001,'' said Jaishankar, adding, “Many things have happened since then, in the US and the West. Our message has been that the the achievements in the last 18 years are secured in the global interest. I think we have to wait and see how this plays out.''
For India, like the Afghan government, the outcomes will have far reaching consequences. India has invested heavily in Afghanistan. Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla made a last minute dash to Kabul on Friday to assure the newly sworn Ashraf Ghani government that it could count on Indian support.
