‘Taliban willing send troops to India for training’

Afghanistan’s all-powerful 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 interview with an Indian 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.

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.

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.”