5th Regional Dialogue on Afghanistan

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is 5th Regional Dialogue on Afghanistan?
• Genesis of the Regional Dialogue on Afghanistan 
• New summary: 5th Regional Dialogue on Afghanistan 

Why in news?

• National Security Advisor Ajit Doval participated in the fifth multilateral meeting of secretaries of security councils/National Security Advisers on Afghanistan, held in Moscow.
• NSA Doval also called on President Putin and had wide-ranging discussions on bilateral and regional issues.

What is 5th Regional Dialogue on Afghanistan?

• The 5th Multilateral Meeting of Secretaries of Security Councils/National Security Advisers on Afghanistan was held in Moscow, Russia.
  • The 4th Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan was held in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.
• Participants
  • Apart from Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were represented at the meeting. 
    • The meeting was held at the level of National Security Advisors (NSAs).
• Objective
  • To discuss various issues related to Afghanistan.
    • This includes the security situation and humanitarian challenges facing Afghanistan.
  • This meeting is among the heads of the security establishments. Hence, it is not a protocol-oriented meeting.
  • It mostly discusses practical cooperation — from intelligence sharing to information gathering to counter-terrorism capacity-building.
  • The meeting looks at evolving a regional security architecture to deal with these challenges, arising out of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Genesis of the Regional Dialogue on Afghanistan 

• The idea of such as dialogue was first mooted in 2018, when the US decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
• First two meetings (in 2018 and 2019) were hosted by Iran. 2020 meeting was cancelled due to pandemic.
• In November 2021, India hosted the ‘Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan’.
  • So far, Pakistan has not attended any of these meetings. 
  • China did not participate in the meeting hosted by India in 2021.
    • Chinese absence sends out a signal that it doesn’t want to associate with any process led by India.

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New summary: 5th Regional Dialogue on Afghanistan 

• National Security Advisor Ajit Doval attended the fifth multilateral meeting of Secretaries of Security Councils/NSAs on Afghanistan which was hosted by Russia.
• He also called on Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to continue work towards implementing the India-Russia strategic partnership.
  • It should be noted that the ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
  • India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

Key highlights of the speech delivered by NSA Doval

• Need for inclusive and representative government in Afghanistan
  • India reiterated its call for an “inclusive and representative” government in Afghanistan.
    • India has not recognised the Taliban administration in Kabul. 
    • However, an Indian technical team is stationed at the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital.
    • This team has been overseeing the humanitarian assistance that India has been providing over the past year.
• People of Afghanistan were among India’s foremost priorities
  • The well-being and humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan continues to guide India’s policy towards Kabul.
    • Recently presented India’s Union Budget 2023-24 allocated ₹200 crore for the development and humanitarian needs of the Afghan people.
    • India has so far delivered 40,000 MT of wheat, 60 tonne of medicines, 5,00,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses, winter clothing and 28 tonne of disaster relief.
    • India has also granted fresh scholarships to 2,260 Afghan students including 300 Afghan girls in the past two years.
  • In this context, NSA Doval asserted that India will never abandon the Afghan people in their time of need.
• On Terrorism
  • He reiterated India’s position that no country should be allowed to use Afghan territory to export terrorism and radicalisation.
  • Terrorism had become a major threat in the region and dealing with Daesh and terror outfits like LeT and JeM required intensified intelligence and security cooperation.
  • Doval reaffirmed the importance of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2593.
    • The resolution was passed in August 2021 under India’s Presidency.
    • It demands that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any other country or to shelter and train terrorists.

Q1) What is Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan?

The Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan brought together security czars of Russia, Iran, and the five Central Asian nations to brainstorm on the serious situation since the Taliban’s takeover and find ways to stem instability from spilling across Afghanistan’s borders 

Q2) What is UNSC Resolution 2593?

UNSC Resolution 2593 was adopted on August 30, 2021, following the fall of Kabul and the subsequent Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.  According to the resolution, the Security Council demands that Afghan territory not be used to threaten or attack any other country or to shelter and train terrorists. Crucially, Russia and China abstained from the vote.

Source: India will never abandon the people of Afghanistan, says NSA Ajit Doval  |  Hindustan Times  |  Indian Express