India, Kyrgyzstan closely following developments in Afghanistan: EAM Jaishankar

Bishkek/New Delhi : India and Kyrgyzstan are closely following the developments in Afghanistan, and any instability in Kabul will have an impact in the region, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday, adding that there are expectations of the international community from the current regime in Afghanistan, which are adequately elaborated in the UN Security Council resolution 2593 passed on August 30.
In an address after the conclusion of his meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev, the EAM said that both sides had an exchange of views on developments in the region, “in particular, the Afghan situation and its implications for the peace and security of the region, which occupied some time in our discussions”.
“We are closely following the developments in Afghanistan. It concerns all of us. Any instability in Afghanistan will have an impact in the region. There are expectations of the international community from the current regime in Afghanistan, which are adequately elaborated in the UNSCR 2593”, which was passed on August 30 under India’s presidency.
He said on the multilateral front, both countries support each other in the UN and other multilateral forums including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. (SCO). “We agreed to continue with the tradition of our constructive partnership in the multilateral fora.”
While India, after an initial formal contact with the Taliban officials in Doha, has not so far made any contact with the Islamist regime in Kabul, Kyrgyzstan has sent a delegation to meet with the Taliban leadership in Kabul.
On August 31, in the first official contact with the Taliban, a meeting took place between the Indian Ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, and the Head of Taliban’s Political Office in Doha, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai.
The meeting took place on the request of the Taliban side. Since then, there has been no formal meeting between the two sides. The Taliban announced the formation of their interim government on September 7, with most members of the cabinet figuring on the UN terror sanctions list.
However, Kyrgyzstan sent a high level delegation on September 23 to Kabul to meet with the Taliban leadership.
Taalatbek Masadykov, the deputy head of the national security council, met with Taliban senior leader and First Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Ghani Baradar in Kabul on September 23 to “exchange views on security issues in [Afghanistan] and in the region as a whole.”
Jaishankar is in the Central Asian republic on a two-day visit.