India bats for secure, peaceful and stable Afghanistan during Moscow Format meeting

Moscow, Oct 7 (IANS) India on Tuesday reiterated its position that a secure, peaceful and stable Afghanistan will not only serve the interests of its own people but will also be fundamental to regional resilience and global security.

New Delhi's message was conveyed at the 7th meeting of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan held in Moscow on Tuesday at the level of special representatives and senior officials of Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. A delegation from Belarus attended the meeting as guests.

The Indian delegation at the meeting was led by Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar who expressed support for independent, peaceful and stable Afghanistan.

"As a civilisational and contiguous neighbour of Afghanistan, India supports an independent, peaceful and stable Afghanistan and socioeconomic development and prosperity of Afghan people. Ambassador reiterated India’s position that a secure, peaceful and stable Afghanistan will not only serve the interests of its own people but will also be fundamental to regional resilience and global security," the Indian Embassy in Russia posted on X after the meeting.

For the first time, an Afghan delegation headed by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaqi participated in the meeting as a member. According to the joint statement released after the meeting, the parties reaffirmed their support for the establishment of Afghanistan as an "independent, united and peaceful state."

The participants also expressed opposition to deployment of foreign military infrastructure in Afghanistan and neighbouring nations.

"The parties urged the countries mainly responsible for the current predicament in Afghanistan to earnestly fulfill commitments on the economic recovery and future development of Afghanistan. They called unacceptable the attempts by countries to deploy their military infrastructure in Afghanistan and neighbouring states, since this does not serve the interests of regional peace and stability," read the Joint Statement.

The participants emphasised the need for development of economic and trade exchanges, investment cooperation of Afghanistan with regional countries and the international community. They expressed their interest in developing regional economic projects with Afghan participation and promoting steady progress in sectors like healthcare, poverty alleviation, agriculture and disaster prevention to help Afghanistan realise independent and sustainable development at an early date.

They supported the active integration of Afghanistan into the system of regional connectivity and reiterated their commitment to continue humanitarian support to the Afghan people while also urging the international community to intensify provision of emergency humanitarian aid to the Afghan people.

The participants called for strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels. The joint statement stated, "They emphasised that Afghanistan should be supported to undertake comprehensive measures aimed at the elimination of terrorism and its eradication within a short timeframe so that Afghan soil is not used as a threat to the security of the neighbouring countries and beyond. The parties underscored that terrorism constitutes a serious threat to the security of Afghanistan, the region and the wider world."

--IANS

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