Who Is Deepti Jharwal? IFS Officer Meets Taliban Leaders To Discuss Afghan Women's Plight

Member of the external affairs ministry’s Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division, Deepti Jharwal visited Afghanistan from the Indian team to oversee the delivery of India's humanitarian aid to the country and meet with the senior members of the Taliban. 

In the team, the inclusion of the woman diplomat was done against the backdrop of the repeated calls to the Taliban regime by the international community including India for the protection of Afghan women’s rights. Jharwal had also attended a meeting with the Indian team and the acting foreign minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Who Is Deepti Jharwal?

Seen in various photographs of the Indian team in Kabul, Deepti has also met the acting deputy foreign minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai. Stanekzai. An Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that the Afghan-India relations would move forward based on mutual respect and joint bilateral legitimate interests. Other countries will not influence the relationship shared by the two countries. In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of External affairs talked about the PAI division’s Joint Secretary team saying that it is currently on a visit to Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of its humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. 

Deepti Jharwal, the desk officer for Afghanistan in the PAI division, has visited the Habibia High School in Kabul which the Indian government had renovated years ago. She has also done a tour of the Indian embassy in Italy. Led by the head of the PAI division, JP Singh, the members of the Taliban were met for a discussion on India’s humanitarian assistance.

Those aware of the matter asserted that the woman diplomat’s participation and inclusion in the team was a clear message to the Taliban set up on ensuring Afghan women and children were included in all forms of life. It was also pointed out that women officials were conspicuous by their absence from delegations sent by several Western countries to Kabul. 

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Deepti was seen in all the pictures released by the Ministry of External Affairs. However, she did not appear in the picture released by the Taliban of the meetings of the Indian team. The plight of women in Afghanistan has remained dire since the Taliban took over. To look into this matter, a team from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs was sent to Kabul to talk to the Taliban leaders. Woman IFS officer Deepti Jharwal met with the Taliban leaders to negotiate with them so that the ban on Afghan women from education, travel and newsroom visibility is lifted. 

Feature Image Credit: Deepti Jharwal, Twitter.