Taliban Must Get Legitimacy Within Afghanistan First: What Ajit Doval & Uzbek, Tajik NSAs Discussed

NSA Ajit Doval on Tuesday met his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in New Delhi ahead of the NSA-level meet on Afghanistan on Wednesday.

With Tajikistan, there was a detailed exchange of views on Afghanistan, with significant convergence of assessments, sources told News18.

Concerns were expressed about the sharp increase in terrorist threats from Afghanistan in the recent past. Tajikistan’s NSA Mahmudzoda Nasrullo Rahmatjon also highlighted the gravity of the situation in Afghanistan and the looming humanitarian crisis in the country.

On the bilateral side, discussions took place on deepening cooperation in areas like defence, border management and border infrastructure development, sources added.

With Uzbekistan NSA Victor Makhmudov, the discussion majorly focussed on Afghanistan. According to sources, both sides agreed that the future of Afghanistan must be decided by the people of Afghanistan themselves.

Both Doval and the Uzbekistan NSA felt that the legitimacy of any Afghan government within Afghanistan was important before the issue of its international recognition.

Both sides also emphasised the need for Afghanistan’s neighbours to ensure unhindered access to humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. They also agreed that neighbouring states must play a constructive role in Afghanistan, while also highlighting the need for the long-term economic development of Afghanistan, sources said.

India is hosting the NSA level meet in New Delhi tomorrow, with NSAs from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, taking part in it.

The dialogue will be the first-of-its-kind conference on the situation in India’s neighbouring country after it was taken over by the Taliban in August. NSAs of China and Pakistan, too, were invited to the meet, but they will not be attending it. While Pakistan outrightly rejected India’s invitation, China said it is unable to attend due to “scheduling issues”, but will maintain communication on Afghanistan through bilateral or multilateral forums.

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