New Delhi: Security czars of India, Russia, Iran and the five Central Asian states have ended their confabulations in Delhi. The Delhi Declaration issued after their deliberations is a comprehensive though familiar document. It restated their concerns about Afghanistan, terrorism and extremism, drugs trafficking and the demand for an inclusive government in that country.
In this chat with Sushant Sareen of the Observer Research Foundation on The Gist programme, we look at how far this declaration will go in helping these eight countries realise their goals in Afghanistan. Barring Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and India, all the others share borders with Afghanistan and are directly impacted by instability there.
The absence of China and Pakistan underscores how closely the two are seeking to work together on Afghanistan. Of course, until now China has not recognised the new Taliban administration even though it maintains its embassy in Kabul. Pakistan has done the same although its support for the Taliban is long-standing and widely known.
