Eminent persons urge govt to not allow any party to use Afghanistan developments to polarise society

The group has appealed to the Indian government that India should continue to engage with the Taliban.

Expressing concern over the situation in Afghanistan, a group of eminent persons, including former ministers K. Natwar Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Wednesday urged the government to continue engaging with and not allow any political party to use the developments in that country to communally polarise Indian society for electoral gains. In a statement, the group, under the banner 'Indian friends of Afghanistan', said as the Afghans seek to embark on a path of peace, national reconciliation and national reconstruction, Indians stand in solidarity with them The group said the people of India stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Afghanistan in these difficult times and asserted that the proud, patriotic and brave people of Afghanistan have defeated every invading army and continue to fight forces of extremism and terrorism. The statement has been issued collectively by former external affairs ministers Singh and Sinha, as well as former diplomat and Congress leader Aiyar, retired IPS officer Julio Rebeiro, former IAS officer and an ex-vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia Najeeb Jung, Afghan expert Vedpratap Vaidik, senior journalist Saeed Naqvi, former diplomat K.C. Singh, social activist Sandeep Pandey, former Rajya Sabha member Majeed Memon and Forum for a New South Asia founder Sudheendra Kulkarni.