India reiterates support for Afghan-led peace process

India on Friday reiterated its commitment and support to Afghanistan's efforts towards a peace and reconciliation process that is led, owned and controlled by Kabul.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar informed that a meeting took place on Thursday between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and shared their perspective on peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

He said that Khalilzad also met Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale earlier in the day.

"He (Khalilzad) had a meeting with EAM (Swaraj). He also met Foreign Secretary Gokhale in the morning. Both sides shared perspective on peace and reconciliation. They briefed us as to how the US trying to achieve peace and reconciliation. We made it very clear that peace and reconciliation in Afganistan should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, and Afghan-controlled."

India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan's peace and reconciliation process and has been pushing for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process.

In November last year, India had participated in talks on Afghanistan in Moscow of which the Taliban were also a part. New Delhi had participated at a non-official level, sending two former diplomats to the meeting.

India has a policy on not engaging with the group. During the meeting in Moscow last year, the Taliban had said that the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan was the only way forward for maintaining peace and security in the region.

On the issue of the US sanctions on Iran, Kumar said that India is still continuing to import oil from Iran.

On the Nepal government's decision to ban the use of high denomination Indian currency notes of Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 in the country, Kumar said that the Nepal Rashtra Bank has sent a communication to India in connection to the matter.