On Wednesday, Ajit Doval, India’s National Security Advisor (NSA), participated in the 5th Moscow Format Meeting on Afghanistan, saying India will never abandon Afghanistan.
The representatives from India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were invited by Russia to the Moscow Format Meeting to discuss various Afghanistan-related topics, including security and humanitarian crisis.
The Indian representative, Ajit Doval, said in the meeting that India would never abandon Afghanistan “Afghanistan is passing through a difficult phase. India has a historical and special relationship with Afghanistan. The well-being and humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan are India’s foremost priorities. This will continue to guide our approach.”
He also added that India has extended its humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan and continued, India has so far sent 40,000 MT of wheat, 60 tons of medications, 500,000 Covid vaccinations, winter clothing, and tons of disaster relief. “India’s technical team is overseeing our humanitarian assistance programme. Standing with Aghans, India has granted new scholarships to 2260 Afghan students, including 300 Afghan girls, during the past two years,” he said.
Doval also stated that “no country should be allowed to use Afghanistan’s soil to export terrorism and radicalization.” On the other hand, he also emphasized the need for security cooperation of all the regional countries in the conference to deal with the emerging security challenges in the country, such as IS-K and other terror outfits.
He said that the need for an inclusive and representative government system had been the need of the hour for Afghanistan and the Afghan society’s interest.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s representative was not present at the Moscow security summit. However, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban government, had asked the member countries to allow the IEA envoy to the meeting.
The fifth round of the Moscow Format Meeting comes as Afghanistan’s security situation is quickly deteriorating and has already forced the closure of a number of foreign embassies in Kabul.
The fourth round of the meeting of the heads of the security councils of the regional countries held on May 27, 2022, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in which they urged the Taliban to form an inclusive government in the country, has yet to be fulfilled.
