India has welcomed Kabul’s firm rejection of attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan during a phone conversation between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
In the first publicly acknowledged phone conversation, Jaishankar also ‘deeply’ appreciated Muttaqi’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack.
‘Welcomed his firm rejection of recent attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan through false and baseless reports,’ Jaishankar said, in an apparent reference to a report in a section of the Pakistani media that claimed India had ‘hired’ the Taliban to carry out a ‘false flag’ operation at Pahalgam.
‘Underlined our traditional friendship with the Afghan people and continuing support for their development needs. Discussed ways and means of taking cooperation forward,’ he added.
The external affairs minister described the conversation as ‘good’.
India has not yet recognised the Taliban set-up and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul.
New Delhi has also been insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country.
The phone conversation between the two foreign ministers came over four months after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held talks with Muttaqi in Dubai.
