April 06, 2021
In a report published by Hindustan Times on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov highlighted India as an imperative player in the political settlement in Afghanistan and stressed that India should be engaged in international efforts supporting the Afghan peace efforts.
Lavrov stated that India should “undoubtedly” be part of international efforts to find a settlement to the circumstances in Afghanistan as it is an “important player” in such endeavors.
He further added that India wasn’t a participant of the extended “Troika” summit on Afghanistan hosted by Moscow on March 18, 2021 which aimed at facilitating the Afghan peace process, while at the same time, India is part of the Moscow format uniting the neighboring states of Afghanistan, key regional countries and the USA.
“Such a composition allows coordinating the assistance to national reconciliation process based on broad regional consensus. As the Afghan peace process moves forward, we are planning to resume the work of this mechanism,” Lavrov said as quoted by the news report.
On March 24, Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s envoy for Afghanistan, said that Russia is satisfied with the outcomes of the Afghanistan peace conference that Moscow in March and called on the US to conform to agreements and withdraw its troops from the country by May 1.
This comes as senior political leaders and government officials in Afghanistan are reviewing over 25 peace proposals, including that of the Presidential Palace, to make a unified peace road map for the upcoming conference in Turkey.
The committee that works under the High Council for National Reconciliation is headed by former vice president Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, and its members are politicians and senior government officials, including the national security adviser.
The peace proposals have been sent by political parties to the council. The 15-member committee is also reviewing opinions from 30 members of the council on the peace proposals.
The Turkey conference is estimated to be held this month. Sources familiar with the matter have said that two dates – April 12 and 16 – are under discussion by involved parties for the meeting that might continue for 10 days.
© Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Afghan Studies Center (ASC), Islamabad.
