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India, Kyrgyzstan hold first strategic dialogue, focus on Afghanistan
The strategic dialogue with Kyrgyzstan was held days ahead of India hosting a meeting of national security advisers (NSAs) of countries in the region, including Pakistan and China, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
India and Kyrgyzstan agreed to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism and defence to address common threats and challenges arising from the situation in Afghanistan during their first strategic dialogue on Tuesday.
The secretary of the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan, Lt Gen Marat Imankulov, visited India for the maiden bilateral strategic dialogue between the National Security Council Secretariats of the two sides. The dialogue is significant in view of India’s efforts to step up cooperation with the Central Asian states on regional security.
The two sides discussed the threats and challenges facing both countries and the regional security environment, with special reference to Afghanistan, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
“The two sides welcomed the similarity of views on these matters, and agreed on steps to enhance bilateral security cooperation between relevant bodies, including in the fields of counter-terrorism, combating radicalisation, narcotics control and defence cooperation,” one of the people cited above said.
During the strategic dialogue, Imankulov met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
There was no official word on the strategic dialogue.
The strategic dialogue with Kyrgyzstan was held days ahead of India hosting a meeting of national security advisers (NSAs) of countries in the region, including Pakistan and China, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
This will be the first such meeting to be convened by India since the Taliban marched into Kabul in mid-August. Besides China and Pakistan, regional countries such as Iran, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been invited to the meeting.
There are no plans to invite the Taliban to the meeting in line with the Indian side’s decision not to rush into recognising the current dispensation in Kabul.
