Modi, Doval, discuss Afghan crisis with Russian Secretary Gen Patrushev
   Date :09-Sep-2021

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NEW DELHI :
 
Doval-Patrushev talks delved into the issue of security implications for India, Russia and the Central Asian region after the Taliban’s capture of Afghanistan
 
 
NATIONAL Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday held talks with his Russian counterpart General Nikolay Patrushev in mitigating any possible security threat from the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, a day after holding similar deliberations with CIA chief William Burns. Meanwhile, Nikolay Patrushev called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday when the two reaffirmed their intention to strengthen coordination in the field of enhancing regional stability, including on Afghanistan. According to the Russian Embassy here, the two discussed a wide range of issues of the Russian-Indian cooperation, as well as a number of topics of the international agenda, were touched upon.
 
“The two sides reaffirmed their intention to strengthen coordination in the field of enhancing the regional stability, including on the Afghan direction,” the statement read. The Doval-Patrushev talks delved into security implications of the Taliban’s capture of power for India, Russia and the Central Asian region as a number of dreaded terror groups including Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba having a strong presence in the war-torn country, people familiar with the meeting said. A Russian read-out of the delegation-level talks said that attention was paid to intensifying joint work by “special services and military bodies” of both the countries and that emphasis was given on further interaction on the “anti-terrorist track”, combating illegal migration and drug trafficking. “As a follow-up to the telephonic conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 24, an exchange of views took place on the military, political and socio-economic situation in Afghanistan,” the Russian read-out said. It said, the two sides agreed to coordinate on the Afghan issue in multilateral formats.
 
“They also touched upon humanitarian and migration problems in this country, as well as prospects for the Russian-Indian joint efforts aimed at creating conditions for launching a peaceful settlement process on the basis of an intra-Afghan dialogue,” it said. Jaishankar meets Russian NSA: EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with visiting Russian Secretary of Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, and discussed a number of international and regional problems, including the situation in Afghanistan. Jaishankar termed the discussion with Patrushev “very useful”. Patrushev is in India for a two-day visit. “Glad to meet Secretary of Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev. Very useful discussions on Afghanistan,” he tweeted.