Jaipur: Reiterating union government’s remark, former high commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghvan told TOI that Indian delegation of former diplomats didn’t hold any meeting with Taliban in the ‘Moscow Format’ held in Russia on November 9. He along with the former Indian ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha attended the meeting.“India didn’t hold any talks with Taliban. To make (talks) a Taliban thing is not correct as other country officials were also present in the meeting. We were there to participate in the multilateral meeting as an observer,” said Raghvan in Jaipur, hours after he arrived from Moscow on Saturday.This is for the first time that India has attended any meeting in the presence of Taliban, which had provided a safe haven to the hijackers of Indian Airlines flight in 1999 in Kandahar.His comment comes a day after union external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar cleared the air that Indian diplomats are not holding any talks with the Taliban.Raghvan and former R&AW chief Vikram Sood shared the role intelligence agencies play and the challenges they face shaping the foreign policy and security apparatus of the country. Sood, who headed R&AW from 2000 to 2003, talked about how Pakistan’s army is fundamentally different from India. In reference to the upheaval caused by extremists in Pakistan following the acquittal of Aasia Biwi, Sood said, “Time and again, Pakistani army has used fundamentalists and right-wingers to disturb the democratically elected governments — Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and now they are doing it with their own Imran Khan.”Sharing his take on China’s hegemony in the region as compared to India, Sood said that India is a thriving democracy with freedom of speech and value system. “In a situation when a country is attaining an economic growth of 8%, 10% or 15% with no freedom of speech and midnight arrests, do you think it will be able to survive?,” asked Sood.Raghvan, who spent two years as an Indian ambassador in Pakistan, said present status of relationship with the neighbouring country should be seen in the larger perspective. “The new government in Pakistan will take time to settle down and they are keen to engage with India. We are mistaken if we think that all Pakistanis are the same. They also love different shades of opinion,” said Raghvan.

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