Russia, Iran, Central Asia to attend Delhi NSA meet on Afghanistan

New Delhi: India is hosting a meeting on Afghanistan this year which will be chaired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Sources said that "there has been an overwhelming response to India's invitation", calling the "high-level participation" in the meet a reflective of "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.

Russia, Iran and Central Asian countries have already confirmed their presence at the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10. However, China has not yet responded to India's invite while Pakistan's NSA Mooed Yusuf has publicly announced he will not participate, terming India as 'spoiler'.

In a first, all Central Asian countries will be present at the meet, not just countries like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan who share land border with Afghanistan. "The enthusiastic response is a manifestation of the importance attached to India's role in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan," the sources said. For Central Asian countries, concerns of a spill-over from Afghanistan have been increasing, and they have been raising the matter in multiple ways.

Last month, Russia hosted a meet on Afghanistan in which India was invited. The "Moscow format" meet on Afghanistan has been taking place for the last few years and this was the first since the collapse of Afghan republic under President Ashraf Ghani.

The meet comes months after Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August. Since then, situation has deteriorated in the country and worries mounted over worsening humanitarian situation. In the past two meetings under the current NSA format has met in Iran, in September 2018 and December 2019. The third such meet was to take place in India but could not happen due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked on Pakistan's decision, the 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", adding the "media comments against India are an unsuccessful attempt to deflect attention from its pernicious role in Afghanistan."

Pakistan has also not yet responded to Indian proposal to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan via Wagha border. Islamabad has been backing Taliban to the hilt and working on at international floras to get the government under the grouping legitimacy. Pakistan Foreign Minister SM Qureshi had recently visited Kabul and engaged with top Taliban leadership.

After Pak, China too declines invite In the latest development on the National Security Advisor (NSA)-level meeting to be hosted by India, China has reportedly said that it will not be able to attend the dialogue due to scheduling issues. This comes as India is set to host a regional security dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10 for which the NSAs of Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have been formally invited.