Abdullah Abdullah to visit India to muster support for Afghan peace deal

The top Afghan negotiator in peace talks with the Taliban, Abdullah Abdullah, is slated to visit New Delhi later this week to muster support for the Afghan peace process and strengthen regional consensus.

Abdullah will meet with Indian officials on Afghan peace and bilateral relations between Afghanistan and India.

"The aim of the trip is to attract support for the Afghan peace and strengthen regional consensus. Dr Abdullah Abdullah will meet with Indian officials on Afghan peace and bilateral relations between Afghanistan and India," Abdullah's spokesman Fraidoon Khwazoon confirmed.

Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation in Afghanistan, Abdullah's visit comes at a time when the Afghanistan government and Taliban are trying to negotiate a deal in order to restore peace in the country.

Abdullah Abdullah last week visited Pakistan and discussed the Afghan peace process with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister and other Pakistani officials.

Recently, it was reported that the negotiating teams of the Afghan government and Taliban are yet to begin direct talks to restore peace in the war-torn nation.

The peace talks between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban began on September 12 in Qatar's capital Doha to end decades of war in which tens of thousands have been killed.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had participated in the opening ceremony of Afghan peace negotiations in Doha through video conferencing and reiterated that the peace process should be Afghan-led and ensure the interests of minorities and women.

He said that Afghan soil should never be used for carrying out anti-India activities and supported the need for an immediate ceasefire in order to establish long-lasting peace in Afghanistan.

On September 25, Jaishankar had met former Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum and said India remains fully committed to an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.