US says it will consult India in Afghan peace process

The United States has said that it will consult India as the Afghan peace process goes forward even as it called for 'inclusive and legitimate process' that preserves the gains made in the last 18 years.

A statement issued by the American embassy in New Delhi on US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad's two-day India visit, said, "Ambassador Khalilzad and his counterparts also discussed that Afghanistan’s political future is for Afghans to decide through an inclusive and legitimate process."

During his visit, which is his second to New Delhi in 2019, Khalilzad met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Vinay Kumar.

Taliban during its talks with the US has been calling for an interim administration in Kabul which will replace the existing government, something India is against as it backs Afghan President Ghani's government.

Washington also 'recognized the many important contributions India has made to Afghanistan’s development.' This development comes months after US President Donald Trump took a jibe against development aid to Afghanistan.

The US President in the first cabinet meet of the year - in January, had said even though he gets 'along very well with India', 'PM Modi is constantly telling me, he built a library in Afghanistan.' "Don’t know who’s using it (the library) in Afghanistan". 

India has built large-scale infrastructure projects in Afghanistan like the Parliament building in Kabul, Salma Dam in Herat and provided training to 3500 Afghans.