Pakistan must ensure Afghan soil is not used for terrorism: India tells Russia

New Delhi: India and Russia held a consultation on Afghanistan on Wednesday (September 8),  with New Delhi pointing out that given Pakistan has links with the Taliban and has been supporting international terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Islamabad has "special responsibility" to ensure that Afghan soil is not used to spread terrorism.

During the talks, India highlighted Pakistan's notorious spy agency ISI's links with LeT and JeM, something that has been raised privately and publicly many times.

The talks were led by Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the visiting Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, General Nikolay Patrushev. This is the first visit of Patrushev to any foreign country after the emergence of the Taliban as the dominant force in Afghanistan.

Both sides saw the issue of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan as a threat to India and Central Asia. Three central Asian states - Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan share border with Afghanistan, and the fear is that the crisis can impact them as well.

Both New Delhi and Moscow share close ties with these countries, with Russia being a major security and economic partner due to the Soviet connect.

During the talks, India expressed concerns over security of Afghan minorities - Hindus and Sikhs. India in August evacuated over 500 people, more than 200 of which were Afghans mainly from minority communities - Hindus and Sikhs.

A release by the Russian embassy on Doval-Nikolay talks said, both sides, "touched upon humanitarian and migration problems in this country, as well as prospects for the Russian-Indian joint efforts aimed at creating conditions for launching a peaceful settlement process on the basis of an intra-Afghan dialogue."

While both sides agreed that "there is a lot of uncertainty" as the situation "evolves rapidly in Afghanistan", sources explained that they had convergence of views on many issues like the need for the Taliban to adhere to promises and commitments it had made, rights of women, minorities, flow of weapons to terror groups and smuggling across the Afghan border and Afghanistan becoming the hub of opium production and Islamic radicalisation and extremism.

The visiting top security official called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar. A release from the Indian PMO said, "Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the visit of the Russian delegation led by Secretary Patrushev at a time when major changes are taking place in the region" and asked him to convey "his thanks to President Putin for his constant attention towards the India-Russia Partnership."

India-Russia consultation on Afghanistan in Delhi was a direct outcome of the Indian PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin's talks on August 24. In the 45 minute long conversation, both decided to form a "permanent bilateral channel" for consultations on Afghanistan.

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