Kabulov’s Delhi Trip: India and Russia discuss Kabul engagement, ISIS threat

India and Russia on Wednesday held talks about how to deal with the Taliban in Kabul, the next UN meeting on Afghanistan, and ways to stop terrorism originating from the Af-Pak and Eurasia regions.

Senior Russian diplomat and President’s special envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov and JP Singh, JS (Pak-Afghan-Iran) MEA met here to discuss Afghanistan’s current situation, Taliban engagement, Daesh/ISIS threats, and narcotics trafficking, according to people familiar with the issue.

While Singh visited Kabul sometime ago, Kabulov was there in April to meet the entire Taliban leadership. Kabulov, a former envoy to Kabul, is regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on Afghanistan. According to ET, the purpose of the meeting on Wednesday was to discuss the notes from these visits and come to a consensus regarding Afghanistan under Taliban.

According to Afghan specialists, India and Russia want to cooperate with the Taliban even though neither has recognised them. As reported, the two discussed the forthcoming UN conference on Afghanistan’s future and exchanged notes.

Russia is India’s trusted counter-terrorist partner. According to sources, the Kabulov-Singh meeting also discussed ISIS/Daesh concerns in Afghanistan and the need to avoid a Kabul vacuum that may lead to an ISIS rule.

After the Moscow terror strikes, the two parties are concerned about the Eurasia terror network and its links to Af-Pak.

The two also discussed how the Taliban has controlled opium trade from Afghanistan and is now focused on legitimate trade. It was felt that Chabahar port would further give momentum to Afghanistan’s revenues. The very idea of Kabulov’s visit was to arrive at a common position on Afghanistan. India is part of the Moscow format on Afghanistan.

Source » indiatimes.com