India on Tuesday held it's first official diplomatic talks with the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan. India's Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal met with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Head of Taliban's Political Office in Doha.
In the meeting requested by the Taliban, Mittal raised India's concern and urged anti-India activities or terrorism should not be allowed to take place on Afghanistan soil.
Unlike his fellow Talibs, Stanekzai is fluent in English, well-travelled and incidentally, has a long-standing history with India, having trained with the Indian Army in the 1980s.
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Who is Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai?
Stanekzai has held the position of the Taliban's political office in Qatar since 2015. Despite being sanctioned by the United Nations, Stanekzai has travelled to many countries as the Taliban representative.
Stanekzai went to the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces. As a 20-year-old, Stanekzai joined the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun as a gentleman cadet.
Nicknamed Sheru by his fellow candidates, Stanekzai was described as a likeable person who did not "display any radical views" at that time. However, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 saw Stanekzai become radical.
According to the New York Times, Stanekzai joined the Afghan resistance movement in Pakistan and became a close aide of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, the leader of the prominent mujahideen faction Ittehad-al-Islami. As a part of the Mujahedeen, Stanekzai was tasked with liaising with the Pakistani military intelligence.
Unlike other mujahideen who hailed from the tribes of rural Afghanistan, Stanekzai was termed as urban who did not agree with their cultural views. According to a friend, Stanekzai would berate his fellow mujahideen for outdated notions about keeping women hidden at home.
That, however, changed when he joined the Taliban. Stanekzai's defence of the Taliban's ban on women studying and working reflects a more hardline approach.
Stating that the Taliban respected women's human rights, as well as their "nature", Stanekzai said, "In Western countries, women come out of their houses almost naked, they go freely to nightclubs, they drink and they dance all night. And when our society says you cannot do such things, a woman's role is to marry a well-respected gentleman, have children and stay at home, you say we are taking people back to the old ages."
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What has been his role in the Taliban?
After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 1996, Stanekzai served as the Deputy Foreign Minister. He travelled to Washington DC in a failed Taliban bid to urge US President Bill Clinton to grant diplomatic recognition to the Taliban.
Stanekzai reportedly fell out with the senior Taliban leadership including the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar for alleged abuse of power and a lax attitude towards alcohol. Stanekzai was stripped of his post and later appointed as the deputy Minister of Health.
Not much is known about his whereabouts after the Taliban's fall in 2001. In 2012, Stanekzai travelled to Qatar with Sayyid Tayyab Agha, the then leader of the Taliban's political wing, to establish an office which would facilitate peace talks with the Afghan government, the US and other western countries.
Stanekzai succeeded Agha as the chief of Taliban's political wing after the latter's resignation. In his role, Stanekzai has held diplomatic talks with China in 2016, Uzbekistan in 2018 and Indonesia in 2018 despite being sanctioned by the UN.
Stanekzai has been pitched forward as the voice of moderation by the Taliban regime. In an interview with News18, Stanekzai said that the Taliban wants good relations with India and will not allow terror groups to seek sanctuary in Afghanistan.
"There is no doubt that there is long political and geographical dispute between India and Pakistan. We hope they do not use Afghanistan in their fight. They have a long border, they can fight among themselves on the border. They should not use Afghanistan for this and we will not let any of the countries use our land for this," he said.
He also urged Hindus and Sikhs who left Afghanistan for India in the last 20 years to return to their homeland promising that there would be no danger to their lives.
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