10-nation grouping opposes foreign military infra in Af

A group of 10 nations, including India, China and Russia, on Tuesday opposed efforts by countries to "deploy their military infrastructure in Afghanistan" against the backdrop of calls by US President Donald Trump for the Taliban regime to hand over the strategic Bagram airbase.

- Rezaul H Laskar

The countries, participating in the "Moscow Format" talks hosted by Russia, said in a joint statement that deploying foreign military infrastructure in Afghanistan will "not serve the interests of regional peace and stability". Afghanistan should be backed to eliminate terrorism so that Afghan soil does not pose a threat to the security of neighbouring countries, they said.