For the first time, India along with five other regional powers, including China, today participated in a meet on Afghanistan hosted by Russia during which they discussed ways to work for the stability, security and development of the war-torn country.
The Indian side was represented by Joint Secretary, External Affairs Ministry, Gopal Baglay, at the conference in Moscow which was also attended by representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, China and Iran.
The conference is an initiative of Russia-China-Pakistan trilateral and India was invited during the visit of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to Russia last month. India was not invited for a similar conference two months ago.
Russia was represented by President Vladimir Putin's special envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov at the one-day conclave.
Ahead of the meeting, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup in New Delhi had said, "India is a major development partner of Afghanistan and stands with it in meeting the challenges that friendly country and its people face, most importantly terrorism. India has always believed in close and constructive cooperation for peace, stability, security and development in Afghanistan."
"To this end, we actively participate in several bilateral and multilateral consultations...We look forward to the valuable opportunity to discuss with other regional countries all aspects of the situation in Afghanistan," Swarup had said.
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