A strong focus on delivering Afghanistan from terrorism, a truly inclusive government that represented the will of the people and unimpeded humanitarian assistance formed the core of the "complete consensus" that India’s regional NSA-level conference arrived at Wednesday in the form of a Delhi Declaration. The Declaration emphasised that Afghanistan’s territory shouldn’t be used for "sheltering, training, planning or financing" any terrorist act while reiterating support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan reported Times of India. With several countries sharing concerns about terrorist groups active in Afghanistan and their benefactors, it also stressed respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and also non-interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs. Also read: NSAs’ meeting on Afghanistan today, focus on regional security Afghanistan conference: India looks to forge consensus on terror, legitimacy, aid NSA Ajit Doval set the tone for India’s conference on Afghanistan with discussions Tuesday on enhanced terror threat from the country, and also the looming humanitarian crisis it's facing, with his Tajikistan and Uzbekistan counterparts. Both central Asian countries share a border with Afghanistan The conference chaired by NSA Ajit Doval saw the participants discussing the evolving security situation in Afghanistan and its regional and global implications while calling for efforts to ensure Afghanistan didn’t turn into a safe haven for global terrorism. Official sources said participating countries acknowledged India’s concerns over cross-border terrorism perpetrated by Pakistan based groups who are also active in Afghanistan. China and Pakistan will be missing when the national security chiefs of seven key regional countries gather here on Wednesday for a security dialogue on Afghanistan. The day-long event, the first being hosted by India, will focus on terrorism and related security challenges and uncertainties According to sources, the participants also stressed that no one should boycott the NSA dialogue process due to the "bilateral agenda". Both China and Pakistan had turned down India's invite to the conference. The NSAs also called on PM Narendra Modi and were said to have had a substantive exchange with him as PM shared India's perspective on Afghanistan. NEW DELHI: The NSA conference on Afghanistan on Wednesday saw India and Russia joining others in underlining the importance of ensuring the rights of women, children and national minorities in Afghanistan. They condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and underscored that the  Also read: Saarc FMs' meet on UN assembly sidelines called off over Afghanistan Afghanistan soil shouldn’t be used to target others: India & Russia "The sides paid special attention to the current political situation in Afghanistan and threats arising from terrorism, radicalisation and drug trafficking as well as the need for humanitarian assistance’’ said the Declaration issued shortly after the conference that saw participation by 7 countries, including Russia and Iran, apart from India. The conference is seen as an important step by India to underline its role in regional efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan and to remain relevant despite the Kabul takeover by a traditionally inimical Taliban. Russia, as Doval said in his opening remarks, was the initiator of the idea for a conference. According to the Declaration, the countries stressed the necessity of forming an open and truly inclusive government that represented the will of all the people of Afghanistan and had representation from all sections of their society, including major "ethnopolitical forces’’ in the country. "Inclusion of all sections of the society in the administrative and political structure is imperative for the successful national reconciliation process in the country,’’ said the participating countries. There was an understanding that it was important for the Taliban to address this issue before the international community could consider recognising their government. On terrorism, the Declaration said, they condemned in the strongest terms all terrorist activities and reaffirmed their firm commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including its financing, the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and countering radicalization, to ensure that Afghanistan would never become a safe haven for global terrorism. They also called for collective cooperation against the menace of radicalisation, extremism, separatism and drug trafficking in the region. The conference emphasised that the fundamental rights of women, children and minority communities are not violated and expressed concern over the deteriorating socio-economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan while underlining the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Afghans. “Reiterated that humanitarian assistance should be provided in an unimpeded, direct and assured manner to Afghanistan and that the assistance is distributed within the country in a non-discriminatory manner across all sections of the Afghan society,’’ said the Declaration. This is significant as India’s proposal for transporting 50,000 MT wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan is still pending with Islamabad. "The NSAs noted the need to provide humanitarian assistance and emphasized that the land and air routes should be made available and no one should impede the process," said a source. Recalling the relevant UN resolutions on Afghanistan, the participants noted that the UN had a central role to play in Afghanistan and that its continued presence in the country must be preserved. They also expressed deep concern over the suffering of the people of Afghanistan arising from the security situation in Afghanistan and condemned the terrorist attacks in Kunduz, Kandahar and Kabul.   Official sources said the meeting exceeded India's expectations as they highlighted that this was the only dialogue at the level of NSAs and that there was complete unanimity on the need to continue this process and have regular consultations.

Ahead of the NSAs meeting on Afghanistan, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held bilateral meetings with his Tajik and Uzbek counterparts on Tuesday, reports The Indian Express. Sources said Doval and Tajikistan’s NSA Nasrullo Rahmatjon Mahmudzoda exchanged “views on Afghanistan, with significant convergence of assessments”. “Concerns were expressed on the sharp increase in terrorist threats from Afghanistan in the recent past,” said sources. The Tajik NSA highlighted the “gravity of the situation in Afghanistan”. Read: India moves to patent the over century-old logos of Darjeeling’s ‘Toy Train’ Sources said “discussions took place on the looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan”. Already, food shortages are being reported from various parts of the country. On the bilateral front, discussions were held on the deepening cooperation in areas like “defence, border management and border infrastructure development”, sources said. Sources said the two NSAs “felt that the legitimacy of any Afghan government within Afghanistan was important before the issue of its international recognition”. This has been flagged by India earlier as well. Sources said that both sides “emphasised the need for Afghanistan’s neighbours to ensure unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan”, and agreed that “neighbouring states must play a constructive role in Afghanistan”. This is again a reference to Islamabad, as it has been sitting on India’s request to send foodgrain to Afghanistan through Pakistan. Read: E-payments unicorn Paytm launches India's biggest-ever IPO External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too met Makhmudov. Russia, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are participating in the meeting to be held at the level of national security advisors, and chaired by NSA Doval, on Wednesday. Doval will also meet NSAs of Russia and Iran for bilateral meetings on Wednesday. Sources said the meeting of NSAs will look at evolving a “regional security architecture” to deal with the challenges arising out of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, mainly terrorism within and across its border, radicalisation and extremism, cross-border movement, drug production and trafficking, and potential use of weapons and equipment left behind by the US and its allies. The Delhi meeting will be attended by 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). The top security officials are expected to jointly call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Some of the visiting delegates will also travel to Amritsar and Agra for sightseeing. According to sources, the country’s top security establishment, the National Security Council Secretariat, is taking the lead in organising the conference. The meeting is a “security track”, which is different from the “diplomatic track”, and the “czars of the security establishments” in these countries will discuss “practical cooperation”, they said.

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