On Margins Of SCO Summit, Jaishankar To Hold Key Meet In Dushanbe On Afghanistan Affairs
Dr S Jaishankar, minister of external affairs, is expected to travel to Tajikistan on Thursday to participate in a key meeting at the capital, Dushanbe, on the situation in Afghanistan and hold talks with counterparts from several countries, including Iran, on the rapidly evolving situation in the war-torn land where the Taliban are now in control.
An official familiar with the matter confirmed, on the condition of anonymity, that while in Dushanbe, foreign minister Jaishankar will hold a series of bilateral meetings, including with his new Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian, on September 16-17. Jaishankar is also expected to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually join the summit of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on September 17, while Jaishankar is set to represent India in the meeting on Afghanistan of heads of state of SCO and the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) the same day.
Jaishankar’s meetings in Dushanbe ahead of the SCO summit will provide India with the opportunity to examine closely the situation in Afghanistan, especially in light of concerns about the military establishment in Pakistan and its ties with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Dr Jaishankar said last week that India has always stood with the Afghan people and called for an unfettered flow of humanitarian aid to the war-torn land. India has called for the global community to jointly bring forth a positive and enabling environment in Afghanistan; however, this requires cooperation from foreign nations and there is always the possibility of vested interests.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, Iran’s Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and Pakistan’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi are expected to attend the SCO meetings in Dushanbe.
Abdollahian, who assumed office in August, was set to travel to India last week but later deferred his visit because he was to meet Jaishankar in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. However, the newly-appointed Iranian foreign minister might still travel to Delhi soon enough, people familiar with the development said, although fresh dates for his visit are yet to be fixed.
India is in no rush to recognise the new rulers of Afghanistan; it instead attaches supreme importance to the argument that Afghan territory must not be used for terrorism or anti-India activities. Iran, on the other hand, has kept open its mission in Kabul and continued to interact with the Taliban leadership. However, the country still has its own security concerns regarding Afghanistan, including the well-being of the Shia Hazara minority.