Taliban Defence Minister says has no issue sending soldiers to India for training

KABUL: Afghanistan’s Defence Minister Mullah Yaqub, son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, has expressed willingness to send Afghan army personnel to India for military training, saying they “don’t have any issue with it”.

He made these comments in an exclusive interview with India’s News 18 TV channel when asked would Taliban be willing to send their army officers to India for military training.

“Yes, we don’t see any issue with it. Afghan-India relations get strengthened and set the ground for this. There will be no issues with it,” he remarked.

Speaking about country’s ties with other countries, Mullah Yaqub said they want cordial relations with all countries of the world, especially the neighbouring countries including India. “We want good and cordial relations with India and we hope that India would reciprocate and maintain good relations in many aspects with us.”

When asked would current regime in Afghanistan wish to have a close defence ties with India, Mullah Yaqub said first they wanted to establish strong diplomatic relations with all countries including India. “When we will together have cordial political and diplomatic relations, then only we would be ready for defence relations. Neither there will be any problem with it nor do we see any issue with it,” he added.

“We will not allow Pakistan to use Afghanistan’s soil against India and we will not allow India to use Afghanistan’s soil against Pakistan,” he said while responding to a question over the alleged presence of terror outfits on Afghan soil.

The defence minister also urged India and Pakistan to resolve their issues through dialogue, saying that Taliban administration did not want to intervene in the bilateral matters of arch-rival neighbours.

 “We want cordial relations with both countries and do not want to interfere or get involved in the issues of the two countries. We are an independent country and our foreign policy is guided by our national interests.”