Army chief General Bipin Rawat reiterated on Thursday that India should join the bandwagon that is calling for talks with the Taliban if New Delhi has an interest in Kabul while rejecting the idea of third party intervention in Jammu-Kashmir.
“If a number of countries are talking to the Taliban, and if India has an interest in Afghanistan…we cannot be left out of the bandwagon,” he said at the annual press briefing in New Delhi.
Though countries including the US and Russia are talking to Taliban, India has maintained a ‘no engagement’ policy.
Talks with the terrorist group are a part of the official “peace and reconciliation process” in Afghanistan. New Delhi says that any such process should be “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned”.
On Wednesday, at the Raisina Dialogue, the Chief of the Army Staff had backed the US talks with Taliban if there were no preconditions.
“Yes, there should be talks with Taliban so long as they do not come out with any preconditions and so long as they are looking at lasting peace in Afghanistan and bringing stability in that country. It is in our interest, in the region’s interest and in Pakistan’s interest. We all want stability,” he said during a panel discussion on countering terrorism.
Politicians from Jammu-Kashmir questioned the Army chief’s “talks with Taliban” remark.
Reacting to the Army chief’s statement, Omar Abdullah, vice-president of National Conference and former Chief Minister, said that the Government of India bats for talks with others around the world but is unwilling to look at engagement or political initiatives in Kashmir.
“We bat for talks with taliban, autonomy for Tibet & Tamil areas of Sri Lanka yet we are unwilling to look at engagement or political initiatives in J&K. Why is our policy all about ‘do as we say, don’t do as we do’? Engagement for Taliban, Operation All-Out for Kashmir,” Omar tweeted.
PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also pressed for dialogue with Pakistan and Hurriyat leadership.
“If the Army Chief can advocate for talks with Taliban then why different standards when it comes to our own people? Accept peace offer from Pakistan, initiate dialogue with Hurriyat and other stakeholders, put an end to the vicious cycle of violence in J&K,” she tweeted.
Read More: Why different standards in Kashmir? Omar, Mehbooba question Army chief’s statement on Taliban
When asked to respond to the argument, General Rawat said that J-K is a bilateral issue between two nations and there is no place for third party intervention.
“We’ve to talk on our terms and conditions. Our terms and conditions are very clear. Come to negotiation table and let’s start talking, but shun the gun and give up violence,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, MoS MEA and former army chief VK Singh had said that there is no need to make an issue out of it.
“Aapne unse puchha ki unse baat honi chahiye to unhone kaha honi chahiye. Khatam ho gayi baat usme kya dikkat hai? (You asked him whether we should talk with them. He said yes we should. Matter ends there, where is the problem?),” he told journalists.
The Minister underlined that India has not participated in the talks.
“We’ve just sent non officials because it was something called for by Russia. We’ve got nothing to do with Taliban,” he said.