Moscow consultations on Afghanistan to resume

KABUK (Pajhwok): Moscow consultations on Afghanistan will resume as the peace process makes headway, says the Russian foreign minister.

Speaking to The Hindustan Times, Sergey Lavrov said India was not part of the extended Troika — Russia, the US, China and Pakistan — on Afghanistan.

It was in the framework of the extended Troika that Moscow hosted intra-Afghan consultations on March 18 to facilitate the launch of peace process, he explained.

“At the same time India is part of the Moscow format uniting the neighbours of Afghanistan, key regional countries and the US,” the foreign minister added.

Lavrov told the Indian newspaper: “Such composition allows to coordinate assistance to a national reconciliation process based on broad regional consensus.”

As the Afghan peace process moved forward, the minister said, Russia planned to resume the work of this mechanism.

As an important player in the settlement in Afghanistan, India must be engaged in the global push for national reconciliation in Afghanistan, he stressed.

PAN Monitor/mud