New Delhi: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday met Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev for a high-level Inter-governmental consultation on Afghanistan. The Russian NSA, who is the most trusted aide of President Putin is also slated to call on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar & PM Modi today. They will review the political, security & humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Doval and his Russian counterpart discussed deepening bilateral cooperation in security with an emphasis on further interaction on anti-terrorist track, combating illegal migration and drug trafficking, according to the Russian Embassy. Both sides agreed to coordinate their Afghan settlement approaches in multilateral formats.
The meeting was an outcome of a recent telephone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The secretary of Russia's Security Council arrived in Delhi on Tuesday evening and the meeting with the NSA to the Prime Minister comes a day after the Taliban announced the names of leaders who would rule Afghanistan in coming days.
With the Taliban take over, the world is witnessing the massive tragedy unfold in Afghanistan with fear and uncertainty looming large. While maintaining a 'wait and watch' policy, India along with Russia is closely monitoring the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. Both the countries are also cooperating under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) framework and its working group on Afghanistan.
Read: Pak continues to foment culture of violence at home, across its borders: India at UN
It is pertinent to note that India and Russia along with Iran have backed the Nothern Alliance between 1996 and 2001. On Monday, addressing a group of reporters, Russian Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev shared concern of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan spreading to Kashmir amid the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
He emphasised that India and Russia shared concern about terrorism and reiterated that Afghan soil should not be used for terrorist activities.
Read: Afghanistan's new Taliban govt includes hardliners with no women
