India hosted its first major meeting on Afghanistan today, the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan. It was held on the level of national security advisors, and was chaired by India’s NSA, Ajit Doval, who explained that the event was at the initiative of Russia. It followed upon an Oct. 20 meeting in Moscow, including the Chinese, and where the government of India first sat down at a table with the Afghan Taliban representatives.
In attendance in Delhi were the national security advisors of Russia, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi also addressed the group. His office said that Modi “emphasized four aspects that countries in the region would need to focus on, in the context of Afghanistan: the need for an inclusive government; a zero-tolerance stance about Afghan territory being used by terrorist groups; a strategy to counter trafficking of drugs and arms from Afghanistan; and addressing the increasingly critical humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.” The Delhi Declaration was voted up unanimously, incorporating the above points.
