In New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India’s immediate focus in Afghanistan was to ensure that Afghan soil is not used for terrorist activities against it and it was still “very early days” to talk about any possible recognition of the Taliban.

Earlier this week, the Indian envoy to Qatar Deepak Mittal held talks with a senior Taliban leader in Doha.

“We used the opportunity to convey our concerns whether it is in getting people out (from Afghanistan) or on the issue of terrorism. We received a positive response,” Bagchi said.

Responding to a question about the recent meeting that India’s Ambassador in Qatar had with a senior Taliban leader in Doha, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who was in Washington on Friday, said: In our statement, we have said that we have told them that we want them to be cognizant of the fact that there should be no terrorism that emanates from their territory directed against us, or other countries; that we want them to be mindful of the status of women, minorities and so on so forth.

“And, and I think they have, also, you know, made reassuring… from their side,” he said.

China has expressed the hope that the insurgents will follow moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, combat all forms of terrorist forces, live in harmony with other countries, and live up to the aspiration of its own people and the international community.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has appealed to the Taliban insurgents and former rulers of the war-ravaged country to formulate an all-inclusive political government after mutual consultations.

Qureshi also emphasised the importance of an “inclusive” political settlement in Afghanistan during his telephonic conversation with Blinken last month.

According to sources, the new government in Kabul will be based on the lines of the Iranian leadership, with the group’s top religious leader Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada as Afghanistan’s supreme authority.

In Iran, the supreme leader is the highest political and religious authority of the country. He ranks above the president and appoints the heads of the military, the government, and the judiciary. The supreme leader has the final say in the political, religious and military affairs of the country.