India’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval greets NSA Nikolai Patrushev in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Photo ANI)
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has a special responsibility to ensure that the soil of Afghanistan is not used to spread terrorism, India said, during a government consultation with Russia on the Afghan situation.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev met in New Delhi for a high-level meeting, as both sides stressed the need to prevent the escalation of violence in the Afghanistan.
This was the first detailed review of the Afghan situation involving the defense, foreign and security ministries of Russia and India since the fall of Kabul.
India highlighted Pakistan’s ISI links with terrorist groups in Afghanistan, such as LeT and JeM, and expressed concern for the security of minorities, including Hindus and Sikhs in that country.
Sources said both sides agreed on common threats emanating from Afghanistan, such as Islamic radicalization and extremism, the flow of weapons to terrorist groups and the chances of Afghanistan becoming a center of production and opium trafficking.
India and Russia stressed the need for the Taliban to adhere to the promised pledges, sources said, without further ado.
A Russian reading of the talks at the delegation level said that attention was being paid to the intensification of the joint work of the “special services and military forces” of the two countries and that emphasis was placed on additional interaction on the “counter-terrorism track”. which fights illegal migration and drug trafficking.
During the talks, the importance of “defining the parameters of the future state structure of Afghanistan by the Afghans themselves, as well as the need to prevent the escalation of violence, social, ethnic and religious contradictions in the country,” was stressed. .
The meeting comes a day after the Taliban, who took control of the war-torn country on August 15, announced their new interim government, made up of strong and unrepresented women.
(With agency contributions)
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