August 19, 2021: Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a top Taliban negotiator once belonged to the battalion named ‘Bhagat’ and took his one-and-a-half year long pre-commission training at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) at Dehradun.

Reportedly, the 58-years-old was considered to be among the most powerful of Taliban leaders, the globe-trotting top Taliban leader was a part of the 71st course of the IMA in around 1982-83, where he honed his military skills.

In an interview with a Pakistani media outlet last year, the chief negotiator took a very dim view of India’s role in Afghanistan when he accused India of supporting traitors. The powerful Taliban leader however has no love lost for India, as he fond of talking about his 'India days'.

Stanekzai had learnt the basics of combat, tactics, strategy, weapons handling, physical and mental grounding, etc which form the core of the curriculum for the Gentleman Cadets (GCs) at IMA.

After joining the Afghan National Army as a lieutenant after completing his pre-commission training at IMA, Stanekzai in a few years had a change of heart that led him to leaving the Afghan army to join the Mujaheedin ranks to fight the Soviet Army.

Stanekzai rose fast in the Taliban hierarchy because of his educational background, fluency in English and general articulateness—an important attribute in the backdrop of the fact that most of the Taliban leadership do not have formal education.

In 1996 when the Taliban seized power in Kabul, Stanekzai was appointed as the deputy foreign minister and deputy health minister in the government.

The Taliban was forced to flee, when the US forces landed in Afghanistan in 2001, in the aftermath of the 9/11 bombings following which he landed in Doha in Qatar in January 2012 where he led the political and foreign office.

Stanekzai since then has been travelling to various countries across the world despite the UN naming him in 2001 as “an individual associated with the Taliban”.

He has been part of recent negotiations with important leaders from the Ghani-led Afghan government to the US to Russia and China.

In September 2020, he made deputy to the Taliban-appointed Mullah Abdul Hakim to negotiate with the Afghan government.