India calls for more cooperation on Afghanistan situation

Regional conference seeks to evolve strategy to deal with Taliban

- Nirmala Ganapathy

India has urged “greater cooperation and interaction” on Afghanistan at a conference on security of Central Asian states, Iran and Russia to help evolve a strategy to deal with the Taliban and a growing humanitarian crisis.

Pakistan, now the key player in Afghanistan and keen to limit any potential Indian role, refused to attend the conference, with its National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf accusing New Delhi of being a “spoiler”.

China, citing earlier commitments, also opted out of the meeting of the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan.

The security chiefs of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and India, in a declaration yesterday, expressed “deep concern” for the Afghan people and said Afghanistan’s territory should not be used to shelter, train, plan or finance terrorist acts. They also condemned recent terror attacks within Afghanistan.

They “stressed the necessity of forming an open and truly inclusive government” and safeguarding the fundamental rights of women, children and minorities.