Ex-EAM Yashwant Sinha says India should be ‘open-minded’ with Taliban

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha has said India should be “open-minded” about dealing with the Taliban and suggested that it should open its embassy in Kabul and send back the ambassador.

The delegation, known as Concerned Citizens’ Group, also termed the curbs by the police on their movement in different parts of the Valley as a “deliberate ploy” by the government to hide the ground reality.

Noting that the people of Afghanistan have great love for India while Pakistan is not popular among them, Sinha told in an interview that the Indian government should not conclude that the Taliban will place itself “in Pakistan’s lap” as every country furthers its own interests.

As a big country, India should approach the issues of the Taliban with a degree of confidence and should not indulge in a “widow’s wail” as if Pakistan has taken over Afghanistan or has an advantage over it, he added. That the Taliban now controls most of Afghanistan is a reality, Sinha said, adding that India should adopt “wait and watch” mode and be in no hurry either to recognise or to dismiss its regime.