The Hindu : Kanwal Sibal in Russia to discuss Iraq, Afghanistan situation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 28, 2003

International

International

Kanwal Sibal in Russia to discuss Iraq, Afghanistan situation

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MARCH 28. India and Russia on Friday will discuss the war in Iraq and its likely negative impact on the situation in Afghanistan and the anti-terror campaign in the region. The Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal, arrived in Moscow on Thursday for the first high-level contact between the two countries since the start of the Iraq war. He will meet the First Deputy Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, under the framework of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Afghanistan and will call on the Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov.

Discussions will focus on joint efforts to promote stability, unity and reconstruction of Afghanistan without outside interference, said the Indian Ambassador to Russia, Krishnan Raghunath. India and Russia are expected to articulate shared deep concern over the war in Iraq and its destabilising effect on the situation in Afghanistan and the region.

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has warned that the war could provoke instability in a large region, from Palestine to Pakistan. With India and Russia fearing an upsurge in terrorism and Islamic extremism in the region, the JWG on Afghanistan is expected to discuss Pakistan's role in Afghanistan, including ISI's continuing contacts with the Taliban, and unending terrorist activity against India. In connection with the recent Kashmir massacre, Russia has strongly backed India's efforts to curb the activity of terrorist groups. The two sides will also discuss humanitarian assistance to Iraq and the role of the international community in resolving the crisis, Mr. Raghunath said. Earlier this week, the Indian Ambassador and the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Losyukov, stressed the need for urgently returning to political settlement of the Iraq issue within the ambit of the U.N. Security Council. In an effort to intensify their interaction on the problem of terrorism, India and Russia will shortly establish a separate JWG on counter-terrorism, the Indian envoy said.

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Kanwal Sibal in Russia to discuss Iraq, Afghanistan situation