Mihir Paul

In the annual press conference held before Army Day, Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat made somewhat startling statements which naturally stirred curiosity, interest, and some controversy.

Addressing the media at the press conference on January 10, General Bipin Rawat said that he was in favour of talks with Taliban, asserting that India cannot be left out of the ‘bandwagon’ when countries like the US and Russia are already reaching out to Taliban. He noted that such engagement was necessary to pursue India’s interests in Afghanistan and that the ‘talks’ would have to be held without preconditions.

General Rawat, backing his stance on peace talks with Taliban, said, “A number of countries are talking to the Taliban. The issue we should address is — do we have an interest in Afghanistan?”

While India has been maintaining a policy of not engaging with Taliban, General Rawat said, “In some of the areas development has happened. There is a people’s voice emerging to say that we want peace. Therefore, some nations decided that let’s start talks with Taliban and see whether they can also be brought in the system of governance.” He added that India should not be left out of the ‘high table’ of key players engaged in the processes of peace talks.

His comments on talks with the Taliban followed from his previous address at the Raisina Dialogue on January 9 wherein he raised the issue for the first time. While India may not be pushing for ‘boots on the ground’ in Afghanistan, it has certainly been a key stakeholder in the peace and reconciliation process