India welcomes Afghan power-sharing deal

News: India has welcomed the power-sharing deal announced by Afghanistan between President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah which ended political discord caused by last year’s disputed presidential election.

Facts:

Key Provisions of the Deal:

• Ashraf Ghani will stay as the president of Afghanistan while Abdullah will appoint half of the cabinet and will also head the High Council of National Reconciliation(HCNR).
• The HCNR has been mandated to lead future peace talks including with the Taliban.

Additional Facts:

• Quadrilateral Coordination Group(QCG): 
  • It is a four-nation group launched in 2016 consisting of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and USA.
  • It aims to initiate reconciliation process between civilian government in Afghanistan and Taliban to preserve peace, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan.
• Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process:
  • It is a regional initiative of Afghanistan and the Republic of Turkey launched in 2011 to promote regional security, economic and political cooperation centered on Afghanistan through dialogue and confidence building measures(CBMs).
  • It comprises 15 participating countries, 17 supporting countries and 12 supporting regional and international organizations.India is also one of the participating country.
• Kabul Process for Peace & Security Cooperation: It is an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process to place the Afghan Government as the key driving force for achieving peace with the earnest support of regional and international partners.