INDIA on Friday described as “positive development” the move by the Taliban regime to restore private land rights to Afghan Hindus and Sikh minorities. According to reports, the Taliban administration has taken steps to restore property rights of the Hindu and the Sikh communities. “We have seen reports on this issue. If the Taliban administration has decided to restore property rights to their citizens belonging to the Afghan Hindu and Sikh community, we see this as a positive development,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. His remarks came in response to a question on the matter during his weekly media briefing.

 

The Taliban regime has reportedly set up a commission to ensure return to owners the rights of private land which were seized by warlords during the tenure of the previous dispensation in Kabul. The latest move by the Taliban dispensation comes weeks after India’s pointsperson on Afghanistan J P Singh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), held talks with Taliban’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi last month.