Reached Verbal Agreement Over Water Rights With Mullah Baradar, Says Iranian Official

In a joint statement after the negotiations in New Delhi, the foreign and defence ministers of the United States and India asked the Taliban to adhere to their commitments.

Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of State and Defence, met with their Indian counterparts, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh, in the framework of US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi, on Friday.

In the joint statement published by the US State Department after the meeting, it has been stated, “The Ministers called on the Taliban to adhere to their commitment to prevent any group or individual from using the territory of Afghanistan to threaten the security of any country."

It also recalled the UN Security Council Resolution 2593, which states that the territory of Afghanistan should not become a shelter for terrorists and should not be used to threaten other countries.

Despite the Taliban's claims of ensuring security and peace since taking over power in Afghanistan in 2021, reports from international and regional organisations indicate the continued activity of terrorist groups within the country.

The foreign and defence ministers of the United States and India pledged to continue consultations to facilitate a peaceful Afghanistan.

Over the last few days, this is the second former parliament member being detained by the Taliban.

Naeemzoi was the representative of the nomads during the 15th and 16th term of the parliament in Afghanistan.

Naeemzoi is the son of Mohammad Naeem Kochai, one of the former leaders of the Kochi tribes and a senior member of the Taliban group.

During the past few days, there were reports regarding the detention of Mullah Tarakhel Mohammadi, another representative of the Kochis in the parliament of the previous government, along with three members of his family.

According to the reports, Mohammadi was also detained on charges of "land usurpation".

The Taliban has not yet commented on the detention of these two former members of the parliament.

This is not the first time that the Taliban has arrested former members of parliament. Mohammad Payanda, another member of the former parliament, has been in Taliban prison for months.

According to the documents that reached Afghanistan International in October, a Taliban court has issued a retribution sentence [qisas] for Payanda for committing murder on a land conflict.

The event took place on Friday along with the attendance of the President of France, the President of the European Council, and various heads of states from European, Asian, and African nations in the capital of France.

A number of politicians and representatives of international organisations are among the participants of this two-day meeting. Participants will focus on finding effective collective solutions to the challenges of the 21st century.

The Paris Peace Forum will address long-term issues such as achieving peace, poverty alleviation, global warming, food security, global health, the effects of artificial intelligence, and the consequences of climate change.

In its sixth session, the forum brings together key players in productive artificial intelligence to discuss the benefits and risks of this new technology.

One day prior to the commencement of the Paris Peace Forum, the French capital organised a gathering focused on humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza. French media reported that, amid the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron made a last-minute inclusion of a humanitarian conference for Gaza within the Paris Peace Forum.

A family member informed Afghanistan International that he was taken to the Taliban’s intelligence office in Kabul, but his current situation and fate remains unknown.

He added: "[Our family members] could not find out about his well-being despite frequent visits and calls to the relevant security agencies of the Taliban."

According to this family member of Nahzat, Taliban fighters arrested him from his house in Kabul.

Nahzat’s family said that he is at the Taliban intelligence office in Kabul, but it is not clear as to which department he was taken to.

Nahzat is one of the analysts who has criticised the Taliban’s policies, mainly in the domestic media.

Last time, he spoke about the deportation of Afghan immigrants from Pakistan and Taliban’s position regarding the matter on one of the private TV channels.

His family has said that it is not yet clear whether the Taliban detained him because of his comments in the interview or for other reasons.

According to them, the Taliban has not given any explanation regarding his detention.

These agreements have been announced in the sectors of transportation, civil aviation, mining, free trade zones, and cooperation with Isfahan Steel Company.

Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, who signed these agreements with the Iranian officials, entered Iran on Sunday, November 5, accompanied by a 30-member delegation from the group.

On Thursday, at the signing ceremony, Iranian officials said that the agreement of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation meeting includes cooperation in international road transport, cooperation between the Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran and the Taliban, Cooperation in the Isfahan Steel company and cooperation in commercial "free zones".

On the sidelines of the ceremony and in the presence of journalists, Mehdi Kohi, CEO of Isfahan Steel Company, also said that an agreement was signed between the company and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Taliban.

He expressed that given Afghanistan's numerous mines, Iran is expected to assist Afghanistan in exporting technical and engineering services related to the mining industry.

According to Kohi, Isfahan Steel Company has decided to cooperate with the Taliban in iron mining in Afghanistan.