New Delhi, Aug 6 (Agency) With Doha becoming the hub of peace negotiations on Afghanistan, the current India visit by the special envoy of the Qatar Foreign Minister, to discuss the Afghan situation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and top Indian officials holds immense significance. According to sources, Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani, the Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of Qatar for Counter-terrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution, is on a visit to India. On Friday, Qahtani met Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran), J. P. Singh “and exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan and recent developments in the Afghan peace process,” the sources added.
The Qatari special envoy also called on Sanjay Bhattacharya, Secretary (Consular Passport, Visa and Overseas India Affairs), and discussed bilateral affairs. He is to meet Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Jaishankar on Saturday. The discussions on Afghanistan come even as the UN Security Council, under the presidency of India, is set to hold a meeting on Afghanistan on Friday, amid the escalating violence unleashed by the Taliban as it sweeps over more territory across the war-torn country. On August 11, senior officials from Russia, the US, China, and Pakistan, known as the Troika Plus, are set to meet in Doha as part of efforts to prevent Afghanistan from slipping into another civil war. The visit of Qahtani holds significance as the Troika Plus has not invited India for the talks, despite India being the largest donor in Afghanistan in South Asia, giving more money than even China. Last month Qahtani had visited Rawalpindi and met Pakistan’s General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Chief of Army Staff (COAS).