India has proposed to host an in-person meet of the regional National Security Advisors, including Pakistan, on Afghanistan in Delhi in November, WION reported.
Many countries in the region and key stakeholders like Russia and Pakistan have been invited. The meet was to take place earlier this year, but it could not materialise.
Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Dr Moeed Yusuf also received the invitation last week.
If his attendance is confirmed, then this will be Yusuf’s first official visit to Delhi. Both Yusuf and his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval were in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, earlier this year for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) NSA meet but no bilateral meeting took place.
Two dates have been proposed for the in-person meet — November 10 and 11 — for the meeting.
The proposal to host the meeting comes even as the situation in Afghanistan remains precarious and with the onset of winters, worries have mounted over the deterioration of the humanitarian situation.
Last week marked two months since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban militants. The Taliban leadership have visited Qatar, Turkey and Uzbekistan hoping to get recognition and legitimacy for the newly formed government, but so far, no such indication has been given by the global community.
In the following week, Russia will be hosting Moscow format of talks involving Taliban, Pakistan, China and India.
In response to a WION question on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi confirmed India’s presence at the Moscow talks.
“We have received an invitation for the Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan on October 20. We will be participating in it. I don’t have final confirmation of who will be attending, but it’s likely that we will be attended at the Joint Secretary level.”
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi also raised the Afghanistan situation at the special SCO meet and during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September and also at the G20 virtual meet hosted by Italy this month.
At the SCO CSTO outreach summit, Modi said the “transition of power in Afghanistan is not inclusive, and it has happened without negotiation”, essentially listing out New Delhi’s red lines.
