Russia’s main concern is stability in Afghanistan and building an inclusive government

Moscow wants an inclusive government in Kabul to ensure stability and sustainable development in Afghanistan.

Russia and India have the shared concern of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan spreading to Russian territory or to Kashmir, Russian ambassador Nikolay Kudashev said on Monday against the backdrop of the Taliban takeover in Kabul.

Counter-terrorism cooperation is a key part of the India-Russia dialogue at various levels, and Moscow wants an inclusive government in Kabul to ensure stability and sustainable development in Afghanistan, Kudashev told reporters during an interaction at the Russian embassy.

Separately, Bangladesh information minister Hasan Mahmud, who is on an official visit to New Delhi, told reporters at the Press Club of India that his country is closely watching developments in Afghanistan as they have implications for regional stability.

“We are keeping an eye on that. Stability in Afghanistan is important for stability in the South Asian region,” Mahmud said. He added it was too early to talk about any recognition of a set-up formed by the Taliban.

Kudashev, who spoke to reporters on the margins of an event at the Russian embassy, said Russia is closely cooperating with India to counter the danger of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. Any flare-up of the civilian conflict would result in terrorism spilling over across the region, he said.

“As far as the phenomenon of terror is concerned, we do share our concerns with India. There is a danger of terror...being spread to the Russian territory, to the territory of Kashmir maybe,” he said.

“We want an inclusive government, we expect that Afghan soil would not be a source of terror emanating to the other countries of the region,” he said.

“Thus, this is a matter of common concern and this is a matter of continued dialogue between Russia and India within multiple frameworks, be it the bilateral counter-terrorism working group, [or] the track of national security councils [or] the track of defence ministers [and] foreign ministers,” he added.

Russia’s main concern is stability in Afghanistan and building an inclusive government that can “offer itself for recognition to the international community to secure stability and sustainable development,” Kudashev said.