Taliban, Drug Cartels Discussed At Key Afghan Meet With Russia In Delhi

An associate of the Islamist militant group's founder has been named premier and a wanted man on a US terrorism list is the interior minister in the new Afghanistan cabinet announced yesterday.

The Taliban, which promised to recast themselves in a more moderate mold, failed when they named the Afghanistan cabinet, said a top source today after a high level inter-governmental consultation between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in New Delhi. An associate of the Islamist militant group's founder has been named premier and a wanted man on a US terrorism list is the interior minister in the new Afghanistan cabinet announced yesterday. "Afghanistan has failed in its branding exercise when they named its cabinet. Discussions were held on situation which will affect its immediate neighbours, including India and Russia," a senior functionary in Prime Minister's Office told NDTV. The two NSAs, according to him, deep dived into security situation which may arise with the new Taliban cabinet announcement.