"Positive Development": India hails Taliban's decision to restore private property of Hindus, Sikhs

To eradicate the property mafia in Afghanistan’s major cities, the ‘Justice Ministry’ of the Taliban administration in Kabul had initiated a largescale crackdown on the owners of properties who had gained these illegally in the previous decades. It is understood that the Taliban has found that many of the prominent properties belonging to the Sikh community in Kabul’s Karte Parwan neighbourhood were grabbed by the late Mohammed Qasim Fahim, who served as Defence Minister and later as the Vice-President of Afghanistan.

India reacts

"We have seen reports on this issue. If the Taliban administration has decided to restore property rights to their citizens belonging to the Afghan Hindu and Sikh community, we see this as a positive development," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to a question during his weekly media briefing.

India's pointsperson met Taliban authorities

The Taliban regime has reportedly set up a commission to ensure return to owners the rights of private land which were seized by warlords during the tenure of the previous dispensation in Kabul. The latest move by the Taliban dispensation comes weeks after India's pointsperson on Afghanistan J P Singh met senior members of Afghan authorities in Kabul.

Singh, the joint secretary heading the division for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), held talks with Taliban's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi last month.

India has not yet recognised the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul besides insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country.

India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country.