After a video this week purportedly showed Hashmat Ghani pledging support to the Taliban, brother of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday cleared the air on his stance while speaking to NDTV.
Hashmat Ghani said that he "accepted" the Taliban to avoid instability, but had not offered the group his "support". He explained that accepting the group and offering support were "very different things".
He stated he had chosen to stay in the country to help in the transition period. He further mentioned that his acceptance was only to spare his country further political and economic problems.
Ghani, a prominent businessman and the leader of Afghanistan's nomadic Kochi population said it remains to be seen what happens once the Taliban are in control.
He also said that it is important to bridge the divide' between the Taliban's social and cultural outlook and the contemporary world as he called on the educated classes to be open to the idea of working with the group to restore the economy.