Two months after the Taliban takeover of Kabul, India is planning to engage regional powers on the future of Afghanistan. New Delhi has invited regional National Security Advisers to Delhi for a meeting in November, including Pakistan’s NSA Moeed Yusuf, in a rare departure from otherwise bitter bilateral ties.
According to sources, New Delhi has reached out to countries that participated in the Iran-plus six-nation “Regional Security Dialogue” in Tehran- Iran, Russia, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan for the meeting to be chaired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. A Pakistani official confirmed receiving the invitation, but said a decision on participation was yet to be taken.
The invitation to Pakistan for a multilateral format meeting follows weeks after a three-member Indian delegation participated in the Regional Anti-Terror Mechanism meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO-RATS) in Pakistan’s Pabbi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In another development, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla included Pakistan’s Senate Chairperson in an invitation to parliamentary leaders of Commonwealth nations for the centennial celebration of the creation of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament in early December. According to a number of verified reports, which the government has not denied, Mr. Doval has led a series of back-channel consultations with Pakistani military and security officials over the past year.
