The Evening Wrap: India holds first officially confirmed meeting with Taliban

India has held its first officially confirmed meeting with the Taliban. It took place between Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal and Sher Mohammed Stanekzai, head of the Political Office of the Taliban based in Doha, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a press release. Stanekzai, an ethnic Pashtun, was trained as an officer of the Afghan army during the Cold War years. He issued a statement three days ago seeking normal commercial, diplomatic and political relations with India. India had remained silent to the overture initially but held the meeting hours after the U.S. completed the military evacuation from Kabul. India has maintained that it has maintained contact with “all stakeholders” but this is the first time that the meeting has been confirmed and announced. Sources said India was focused on ensuring the safety of those individuals who wished to come to India but could not do so as the Taliban denied them permission to leave Kabul. Meanwhile, in a related development, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), under India’s presidency, passed the Resolution that reminded Taliban to stand by its commitment to prevent international terrorism. Resolution 2593 of the UNSC addresses India’s major concerns on Afghanistan “at this time”, informed sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday. But the P-5 countries (permanent members of the UNSC) remained divided over the issue. Russia and China abstained during the voting over the draft saying it divided the approach to the Afghan crisis. Russian representative at the UNSC pointed out that the author of the draft resolution, that is the U.S., has divided terrorists in Afghanistan into “ours and theirs”, pointing to a changing stance of the U.S. towards the Taliban and its allied Haqqani Network, which has in the past attacked both American and Indian targets in Afghanistan. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, representing India at the UNSC, highlighted the role of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and said that these outfits should be “called out and condemned”, without referring to the Haqqani Network that is likely to come up at the Taliban Sanctions Committee for a discussion among the members for possible delisting. It was learnt, however, that the Indian diplomatic team at the U.N. tried to build consensus and reached out to “high-level official contacts” on all sides. The draft resolution called upon the Taliban to stand by its commitment to stop any terrorist activity from originating from the territory of Afghanistan. It also “calls on all parties to allow full, safe, and unhindered access for the U.N., its specialised agencies and implementing partners, and all humanitarian actors engaged in humanitarian relief activity, including with respect to internally displaced persons, to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all those in need.” Sources said that a high-level group consisting of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and senior officials are focused on ensuring evacuation of stranded Indians from Afghanistan and also airlifting of religious minority groups from Kabul. “The group has also been monitoring the ground situation in Afghanistan and international reactions,” said a source familiar with the Indian government’s response to the evolving crisis in Afghanistan where Taliban has been celebrating since the last U.S. aircraft left earlier on Tuesday morning. India’s GDP grows 20.1% in April-June, but economy still far from pre-COVID level India's economic growth surged to 20.1 % in the April-June quarter of this fiscal, helped by a low base of the year-ago period, despite a devastating second wave of Covid-19. The gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by 24.4 % in the corresponding April-June quarter of 2020-21, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Tuesday. The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. This year, the massive second wave of the pandemic hit the country in the middle of April, which forced states to impose fresh restrictions. However, the economy has still not returned to the pre-COVID level. In value terms, the GDP stood at ₹32,38,020 crore in April-June 2021-22, much lower than the figure of ₹35,66,708 crore in the corresponding period of the 2019-20 financial year. The GDP had shrunk to ₹26,95,421 crore in April-June last year during the nationwide lockdown. “GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q1 of 2021-22 is estimated at ₹32.38 lakh crore, as against ₹26.95 lakh crore in Q1 of 2020-21, showing a growth of 20.1 % as compared to contraction of 24.4 % in Q1 2020-21,” the NSO said in a statement. According to the NSO data, gross value added (GVA) growth in the manufacturing sector accelerated to 49.6 % in the first quarter of 2021-22, compared to a contraction 36 % a year ago. Farm sector GVA growth was up at 4.5 %, compared to 3.5 % earlier. Construction sector GVA grew by 68.3 % compared to 49.5 % contraction earlier. Mining sector grew by 18.6 %, as against a contraction of 17.2 % a year ago. Electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services segment grew by 14.3 % in the first quarter of this fiscal, against 9.9 % contraction a year ago. Similarly, trade, hotel, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting grew by 34.3 % compared to 48.1 % contraction earlier. Financial, real estate and professional services grew by 3.7 % in Q1 FY22 compared to a contraction of 5 %. Public administration, defence and other services grew at 5.8 % during the quarter under review, compared to (-) 10.2 % a year earlier. Delhi HC to hear plea challenging Asthana appointment on Wednesday The Delhi High Court today posted the hearing on a petition challenging the appointment of Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner and an intervention application filed in the matter by an NGO for Wednesday. On August 25, the Supreme Court had asked the High Court to decide within two weeks the plea pending before it against the appointment of the senior IPS officer as Delhi Police Commissioner. Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which filed the impleadment application, argued that the petition before the High Court, filed by one one Sadre Alam, was a “copy-paste” of its plea before the Supreme Court. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for CPIL, said, “We have filed an intervention on behalf of CPIL. Something extraordinary has happened in the matter. The petition is a total copy-paste. Full stop, comma, exclamation mark. The court may list it tomorrow or whenever. See the kind of abuse of process of law that is done.” The NGO stated that it got to know about the filing of Alam’s petition before the High Court from media reports and “was surprised to see some of the paragraphs of the instant writ petition as quoted by media, as the same appeared to be copy-pasted from the applicant’s writ petition filed before the Supreme Court prior in time.” The NGO claimed that the precise purpose of filing the petition by Alam “seems to be only to defeat public interest by scuttling the genuine, bona fide and well-researched and deliberated PIL filed by the applicant (NGO) before the Supreme Court.” The petition filed by Alam has contended that the 1984-batch IPS officer, serving as the Director General of Border Security Force, was appointed Delhi Police Commissioner on July 27, just four days before his superannuation on July 31. Alam, in his plea, argued that the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) in appointing Asthana for the post was “completely illegal on multiple grounds”. The plea said the appointment was “in clear and blatant breach” of the directions of the Supreme Court of India as Asthana “did not have a minimum residual tenure of six months”, and that no Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) panel was formed for appointment of Delhi Police Commissioner. The petition, additionally, argued that the appointment violates the fundamental rule which stipulates “no government servant shall be granted extension in service beyond the age of retirement of sixty years”. Sidhu questions Punjab govt on ‘inaction’ against those involved in drug trafficking Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday questioned his party government in the State on the ‘inaction’ against those involved in drug trafficking. And the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), at its legislative party meeting held here, accused Sidhu and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of running away from public issues. Sidhu, in a statement, said numerous tormented mothers who had lost their children due to the drug menace were waiting for the report of the Special Task Force (STF) surrounding the drugs trade. In February 2018, the STF filed a status report in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Later, the government filed before the court an opinion-cum-status report, and the matter is still in the court. Questioning the government’s ‘inaction’, Sidhu said that despite the court’s directions, nothing had been done nothing to extradite some 13 drug smugglers back to India. Leader of the Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema demanded that the one-day Assembly session, dedicated to the 400th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur on September 3, be extended for at least 15 days so that all the issues concerning people, including the agricultural crisis, expensive electricity and the mafia, can be discussed in the House. Taking a dig at Sidhu, he stated that if the ruling Congress president could not ensure an extension of the term of the coming Assembly session, then by what conscience was he still sitting in the ruling party. AAP MLA Aman Arora said that he had brought a private member’s bill to cancel the power purchase agreements and now it would be seen whether Sidhu and his fellow MLAs supported this pro-people Bill or run away from it. “If Sidhu sincerely desires, the Bill to cancel the power agreements could be passed in the Assembly as he has the support of more than 50 Congress MLAs, and with the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, there would be a majority in the House,” he added. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,28,09,249 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,38,980. India on Tuesday administered more than 1.09 crore COVID-vaccine doses, which the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted “is a new vaccination milestone”. In total over 65 crore doses have been administered so far in the country. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 31 AUGUST 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( India holds first officially confirmed meeting with Taliban; Russia, China abstain on UNSC’s Afghanistan resolution India has [held its first officially confirmed meeting with the Taliban](. It took place between Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal and Sher Mohammed Stanekzai, head of the Political Office of the Taliban based in Doha, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a press release. Stanekzai, an ethnic Pashtun, was trained as an officer of the Afghan army during the Cold War years. He issued a statement three days ago seeking normal commercial, diplomatic and political relations with India. India had remained silent to the overture initially but held the meeting hours after the U.S. completed the military evacuation from Kabul. India has maintained that it has maintained contact with “all stakeholders” but this is the first time that the meeting has been confirmed and announced. Sources said India was focused on ensuring the safety of those individuals who wished to come to India but could not do so as the Taliban denied them permission to leave Kabul. Meanwhile, in a related development, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), under India’s presidency, passed the Resolution that reminded Taliban to stand by its commitment to prevent international terrorism. [Resolution 2593 of the UNSC addresses India’s major concerns on Afghanistan]( “at this time”, informed sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday. But the P-5 countries (permanent members of the UNSC) remained divided over the issue. Russia and China abstained during the voting over the draft saying it divided the approach to the Afghan crisis. [Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla at the UNSC meeting. ]  Russian representative at the UNSC pointed out that the author of the draft resolution, that is the U.S., has divided terrorists in Afghanistan into “ours and theirs”, pointing to a changing stance of the U.S. towards the Taliban and its allied Haqqani Network, which has in the past attacked both American and Indian targets in Afghanistan. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, representing India at the UNSC, highlighted the role of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed and said that these outfits should be “called out and condemned”, without referring to the Haqqani Network that is likely to come up at the Taliban Sanctions Committee for a discussion among the members for possible delisting. It was learnt, however, that the Indian diplomatic team at the U.N. tried to build consensus and reached out to “high-level official contacts” on all sides. The draft resolution called upon the Taliban to stand by its commitment to stop any terrorist activity from originating from the territory of Afghanistan. It also “calls on all parties to allow full, safe, and unhindered access for the U.N., its specialised agencies and implementing partners, and all humanitarian actors engaged in humanitarian relief activity, including with respect to internally displaced persons, to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all those in need.” Sources said that a high-level group consisting of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and senior officials are focused on ensuring evacuation of stranded Indians from Afghanistan and also airlifting of religious minority groups from Kabul. “The group has also been monitoring the ground situation in Afghanistan and international reactions,” said a source familiar with the Indian government’s response to the evolving crisis in Afghanistan where Taliban has been celebrating since the last U.S. aircraft left earlier on Tuesday morning. [underlineimg] India’s GDP grows 20.1% in April-June, but economy still far from pre-COVID level [India's economic growth surged to 20.1 % in the April-June quarter]( this fiscal, helped by a low base of the year-ago period, despite a devastating second wave of Covid-19. The gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by 24.4 % in the corresponding April-June quarter of 2020-21, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Tuesday. The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. This year, the massive second wave of the pandemic hit the country in the middle of April, which forced states to impose fresh restrictions. However, the economy has still not returned to the pre-COVID level. In value terms, the GDP stood at ₹32,38,020 crore in April-June 2021-22, much lower than the figure of ₹35,66,708 crore in the corresponding period of the 2019-20 financial year. The GDP had shrunk to ₹26,95,421 crore in April-June last year during the nationwide lockdown. “GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q1 of 2021-22 is estimated at ₹32.38 lakh crore, as against ₹26.95 lakh crore in Q1 of 2020-21, showing a growth of 20.1 % as compared to contraction of 24.4 % in Q1 2020-21,” the NSO said in a statement. According to the NSO data, gross value added (GVA) growth in the manufacturing sector accelerated to 49.6 % in the first quarter of 2021-22, compared to a contraction 36 % a year ago. Farm sector GVA growth was up at 4.5 %, compared to 3.5 % earlier. Construction sector GVA grew by 68.3 % compared to 49.5 % contraction earlier. Mining sector grew by 18.6 %, as against a contraction of 17.2 % a year ago. Electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services segment grew by 14.3 % in the first quarter of this fiscal, against 9.9 % contraction a year ago. Similarly, trade, hotel, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting grew by 34.3 % compared to 48.1 % contraction earlier. Financial, real estate and professional services grew by 3.7 % in Q1 FY22 compared to a contraction of 5 %. Public administration, defence and other services grew at 5.8 % during the quarter under review, compared to (-) 10.2 % a year earlier. [underlineimg] Delhi HC to hear plea challenging Asthana appointment on Wednesday The Delhi High Court today posted the hearing on a petition challenging the appointment of Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner and an intervention application filed in the matter by an NGO for Wednesday. On August 25, the Supreme Court had asked the High Court to decide within two weeks the plea pending before it against the appointment of the senior IPS officer as Delhi Police Commissioner. Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which filed the impleadment application, argued that the petition before the High Court, filed by one one Sadre Alam, was a “copy-paste” of its plea before the Supreme Court. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for CPIL, said, “We have filed an intervention on behalf of CPIL. Something extraordinary has happened in the matter. The petition is a total copy-paste. Full stop, comma, exclamation mark. The court may list it tomorrow or whenever. See the kind of abuse of process of law that is done.” The NGO stated that it got to know about the filing of Alam’s petition before the High Court from media reports and “was surprised to see some of the paragraphs of the instant writ petition as quoted by media, as the same appeared to be copy-pasted from the applicant’s writ petition filed before the Supreme Court prior in time.” The NGO claimed that the precise purpose of filing the petition by Alam “seems to be only to defeat public interest by scuttling the genuine, bona fide and well-researched and deliberated PIL filed by the applicant (NGO) before the Supreme Court.” The petition filed by Alam has contended that the 1984-batch IPS officer, serving as the Director General of Border Security Force, was appointed Delhi Police Commissioner on July 27, just four days before his superannuation on July 31. Alam, in his plea, argued that the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) in appointing Asthana for the post was “completely illegal on multiple grounds”. The plea said the appointment was “in clear and blatant breach” of the directions of the Supreme Court of India as Asthana “did not have a minimum residual tenure of six months”, and that no Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) panel was formed for appointment of Delhi Police Commissioner. The petition, additionally, argued that the appointment violates the fundamental rule which stipulates “no government servant shall be granted extension in service beyond the age of retirement of sixty years”. [underlineimg] Sidhu questions Punjab govt on ‘inaction’ against those involved in drug trafficking Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday [questioned his party government in the State]( on the ‘inaction’ against those involved in drug trafficking. And the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), at its legislative party meeting held here, accused Sidhu and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of running away from public issues. Sidhu, in a statement, said numerous tormented mothers who had lost their children due to the drug menace were waiting for the report of the Special Task Force (STF) surrounding the drugs trade. In February 2018, the STF filed a status report in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Later, the government filed before the court an opinion-cum-status report, and the matter is still in the court. Questioning the government’s ‘inaction’, Sidhu said that despite the court’s directions, nothing had been done nothing to extradite some 13 drug smugglers back to India. Leader of the Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema demanded that the one-day Assembly session, dedicated to the 400th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur on September 3, be extended for at least 15 days so that all the issues concerning people, including the agricultural crisis, expensive electricity and the mafia, can be discussed in the House. Taking a dig at Sidhu, he stated that if the ruling Congress president could not ensure an extension of the term of the coming Assembly session, then by what conscience was he still sitting in the ruling party. AAP MLA Aman Arora said that he had brought a private member’s bill to cancel the power purchase agreements and now it would be seen whether Sidhu and his fellow MLAs supported this pro-people Bill or run away from it. “If Sidhu sincerely desires, the Bill to cancel the power agreements could be passed in the Assembly as he has the support of more than 50 Congress MLAs, and with the Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, there would be a majority in the House,” he added. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 3,28,09,249 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,38,980. [India had achieved the one-crore doses milestone for the first time on August 27.]  India on Tuesday [administered more than 1.09 crore COVID-vaccine doses]( which the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted “is a new vaccination milestone”. In total over 65 crore doses have been administered so far in the country. [underlineimg]  Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [[Jaipur company declares 'Money Heist' holiday ahead of final season release] Jaipur company declares 'Money Heist' holiday ahead of final season release]( [[Are oil bonds responsible for high fuel prices? | In Focus podcast] Are oil bonds responsible for high fuel prices? | In Focus podcast]( [[World's highest motorable road at 18,600 ft inaugurated in Ladakh] World's highest motorable road at 18,600 ft inaugurated in Ladakh]( [[Reddit refuses to take stricter action against COVID-19 misinformation] Reddit refuses to take stricter action against COVID-19 misinformation]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](