India successfully concludes its NSA meet on Afghan situation, brining itself centrestage in the situation.
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India organises NSAs' meet on Afghanistan
- The story: India hosted the ‘Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan’ on 10th Nov, 2021. It invited the National Security Advisers (NSAs) from seven other countries for the meeting, chaired by India’s NSA Ajit Doval.
- Who attended: The participants were Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani (Iran), Nikolai P Patrushev (Russia), Karim Massimov (Kazakhstan), Marat Mukanovich Imankulov (Kyrgyzstan), Nasrullo Rahmatjon Mahmudzoda (Tajikistan), Charymyrat Kakalyyevvich Amavov (Turkmenistan) and Victor Makhmudov (Uzbekistan). They met PM Modi, and also had bilateral meetings on the sidelines.
- Why this dialogue: The idea was first given in 2018, when the US decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
- In September 2018, the first meeting of NSAs took place in Iran, with the participation of Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, China and India.
- At the second meeting in December 2019, again hosted by Iran, seven countries attended, with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan the new participants.
- Pakistan attended neither meeting. It had put a precondition to Tehran early that if India attended, they wouldn’t. Tehran did not agree.
- In 2021 too, Pakistan predictably skipped the meeting. Pakistan’s NSA Moeed Yusuf had said he would not attend, making an indirect reference to India and said “a spoiler can’t be a peacemaker”.
- China attended both the previous meetings in Iran, but avoided the latest one, though it claims it is open to such meetings.
- Taliban not invited: India chose not to invite the Taliban, since none of the participating countries have so far officially recognised the Taliban regime yet, although some including Russia and Iran have their embassies functioning. India had engaged closely with the previous government led by President Ashraf Ghani, and also did not invite any of the leaders from the previous regime including former President Hamid Karzai and former CEO Abdullah Abdullah. Until the fall of Kabul, India had not engaged with the Taliban through publicly-announced official channels. The complexion of the Taliban cabinet — handpicked by Pakistan’s ISI and filled with Haqqani Network members — shows that India is not in the game. India's hope is that it can emerge as the location for future dialogue processes, the grouping can be expanded in the future, including other influential players such as the US.
- Importance: The meeting was hosted by the National Security Council Secretariat, which usually operates behind the scenes and reports directly to the NSA. Planners at the NSCS were happy to see the response. It was the first time that all Central Asian countries, not just Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours, participated in this format. This process is different from other ones on Afghanistan — the Heart of Asia process or the Moscow format. This is not among diplomats, nor is it led by foreign ministries, but is among the heads of the security establishments in these countries.
- What was discussed: The “security tsars” engaged on the security concerns emanating out of Afghanistan and discussed “practical cooperation” — from intelligence sharing to information gathering to counter-terrorism capacity-building.
- Challenges: The Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan expressed concern over the deteriorating socio-economic and humanitarian situation in that country and underlined the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people in an unimpeded, direct and assured manner and that the assistance is distributed within the country in a non-discriminatory manner across all sections of the Afghan society. The declaration said the officials reiterated strong support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan.
- Who said what: Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani¸ the secretary of Iran's supreme national security council talked about the challenges of terrorism, poverty and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan He said that the solution comes only through the formation of an inclusive government with the participation of all ethnic groups. Chief of Kazakhstan's national security committee Karim Massimov said the situation inside Afghanistan remains complicated, with the Taliban movement coming to power. Secretary of Russia's security council Nikolai Patrushev referred to various dialogue mechanisms on the Afghan issue including the Moscow Format and the Turkic Council and emphasised that they should not "duplicate work but complement each other".
- Declaration adopted: At the end of the security dialogue to review the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, a declaration was adopted by the eight nations, reaffirming that the territory under the Afghans shouldn't be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist activities. The central Asian countries included Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The declaration emphasised the need for respecting the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and non-interference in its internal affairs, seen as an indirect message to Pakistan.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the strategic thinking of India on the Afghan issue, with reference to the NSA talks held in Delhi, in Nov 2021. (2) What are the pros and cons of having multiple dialogue forums for the Afghan situation? (3) The people of Afghanistan are on the verge of dying from hunger. What are the Taliban's options? Explain.
#Taliban #Afghanistan #NSAsummit #India #AjitDoval
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