Russia excludes India from crucial talks on Afghanistan to which Pakistan and China are parties

The “extended troika” meeting on Afghanistan convened by Russia will see the participation of Pakistan, revealing certain differences between New Delhi and Moscow over the fast changing situation in the war-racked country, the media reports said.

Two more extended troika meetings were held in Moscow on March 18 and in Doha on April 30.

Russia has shown no inclination to include India though India has raised the inclusion of Pakistan in the key dialogues and pointed out its stakes in Afghanistan, the reports added.

Russia has acknowledged India's concerns and said it keeps India informed about all the developments.

India has supported the regime led by President Ashraf Ghani and is in talks with other stakeholders in Afghanistan. It is opposed to planting a regime by force in the country that is fighting an intense battle with the Taliban.

Russia, on the other hand, is apparently opposed to continuation of the Ghani government and favours an interim set-up, the report added.

“Russia perceives Ghani as a US proxy and wants him removed. At the same time, Russia believes the Taliban will counter the Islamic State, which Russia sees as its main threat in Afghanistan, if the group comes to power. This is one of the reasons for Russia’s growing coordination with Pakistan,” an HT report quoted a source as saying.

Russia’s special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, who also oversees relations with India, told an online discussion that India has a role in “Afghanistan’s post-conflict development” as the country has no influence with the Taliban.

“Only countries that have an unequivocal influence on both sides (of the conflict in Afghanistan) participate” in the extended troika, Kabulov said.

Further, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s decision to club his visit to India with Pakistan did not go down well with India and the move is believed to have led India to combine a trip to Moscow in June with Georgia, which has strained ties with Russia.