Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD/MOSCOW: A summit on Afghanistan between the secretaries of the Central Asian countries’ security councils — including Pakistan, China, and India — will be held in Moscow, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told TASS on Friday. “Yes, that’s true,” he replied to a question.
Authorities gave the same confirmation in Islamabad too.
The Russian diplomat explained that there would be regional participants in the summit. He said the secretaries of the security councils of countries in the region are invited, including Central Asian partners, as well as Pakistan, China, and India.
On May 27, last year, a fourth round of multilateral talks on Afghanistan between top security officials was held in Dushanbe.
It is pertinent to be noted that under the US withdrawal agreement signed by the Trump administration in 2020, the US army withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, and the Taliban assumed power in Afghanistan.
Moscow summit aims to stabilize Afghanistan
After the United States (US) departure, all the regional countries became active in stabilizing Afghanistan and preventing its land from being used for terrorism — which affected the neighbouring countries for decades.
The regional nations believe that the power vacuum left by the US in Afghanistan may be a lucrative opportunity for the other non-state elements and terror organizations to launch their activities and globalize their operations — which also threatens regional security and peace.
It is also pertinent to be noted that the current economic and social crises in Afghanistan have forced their people to flee to the neighbouring countries.
The US also froze Afghanistan’s overseas assets, further worsening the economic instability.
The regional states are actively working together to create a stable and peaceful Afghanistan to avoid any disorder in the region by extending humanitarian assistance and constantly urging the Taliban authorities to crack down on the terror groups.
