India to host NSA-level meet on Af on November 10

New Delhi: India will host the third edition of the national security advisor-level talks on November 10 in New Delhi with a focus on the security situation in Afghanistan, two months after the Taliban took control of the capital city of Kabul.

The meeting, which will be chaired by NSA Ajit Doval, will likely be attended by Russia and Iran. Invitations have also been sent to China and Pakistan. However, Pakistan's NSA Moeed Yusuf has confirmed that he will not attend the meeting, saying "a spoiler cannot try to become a peacemaker". "The high-level participation in next week's meeting hosted by India reflects the widespread and growing concern of regional countries about the situation in Afghanistan and their desire to consult and coordinate with each other. India has an important role to play in this process," sources said.

"Pakistan's decision is unfortunate, but not surprising. It reflects its mindset of viewing Afghanistan as its protectorate. Pakistan has not attended the previous meetings of this format. Its media comments against India are an unsuccessful attempt to deflect attention from its pernicious role in Afghanistan," the sources added.

Since Taliban's capture of Kabul, New Delhi has expressed concerns over the situation in Afghanistan, fearing that terrorists might use the Afghan soil to carry out terror attacks against India. In September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, had called the situation in Afghanistan "critical" and said that it is important to ensure that the Afghan soil is not used to spread terrorism.