India to invite Pak, China for meet on Afghanistan

China, Pakistan and Iran will be among the 13 countries participating in the regional investors' meet on Afghanistan which India will play host to.

China, Pakistan and Iran will be among the 13 countries participating in the regional investors' meet on Afghanistan which India will play host to.

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The effort is aimed at fostering regional coordination in the backdrop of plans to withdraw western armed forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

These countries will be picking up from where they had left their meet in Istanbul last year. At the Turkish capital, putting in place the Istanbul protocol, the regional countries had discussed means to improve stability, security and prosperity of Afghanistan.

According to official sources, India will extend invitation to the countries that had attended the Istanbul meet. They include Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, said the sources.

The decision to hold the regional investors meet was taken at a meeting between external affairs minister SM Krishna and his Afghan counterpart Zalmai Rassoul who co-chaired the inaugural session of the India-Afghanistan Partnership Council in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The meeting will be attended by other donor countries and aid agencies also.

The sources said the regional countries are best placed to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity of Afghanistan.

Though India has concerns over the strategic depth Islamabad is looking at in Afghanistan, both countries are coming together under a regional imitative.

“The US has always encouraged such regional initiatives. Most of these countries have a direct stake in Afghanistan,” an official said.

While affirming its long-term commitment for the prosperity of Afghanistan, external affairs minister SM Krishna on Tuesday reiterated that the India’s security is “intertwined” with that of Afghanistan.