afghanistan: Focus on Afghanistan, terror in Russia summit; S-400 supplies to continue | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The 21st India-Russia annual summit featuring PM Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin saw the 2 countries, while reaffirming commitment to the S-400 deal despite the threat of US sanctions, strongly take up the issue of cross-border terrorism with focus on ensuring Afghanistan wasn’t used for terrorist activities by UNSC proscribed groups, including Pakistan-based LeT.
India and Russia also signed 28 agreements, 9 between the 2 governments and the remaining business to business, during Putin’s brief visit Monday evening. While confirming that the supply of S-400 air defence system under a “legacy contract” has begun, and that it will continue to take place, the government also asserted that both India and Russia followed independent foreign policies and that there was no discussion over the US CAATSA sanctions threat during the summit.
Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said that there was a particular focus on counter-terrorism during the talks and also highlighted the specific mention of LeT in the joint statement in the context of the terror threat from Afghanistan. “The leaders emphasised that Afghanistan’s territory should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing any terrorist groups including ISIS, Al Qaeda, LeT etc,’’ said the joint statement titled partnership for peace, progress and prosperity. Asked whether or not the China-related border concerns were raised, the government said all issues in the Indo-Pacific and India’s security concerns were discussed.
While differences over the Indo-Pacific initiative remained, Modi and Putin outlined the priorities in Afghanistan which, they said, included ensuring formation of a truly inclusive and representative government, combating terrorism and drug trafficking, providing immediate humanitarian assistance and preserving the rights of women, children and minorities. “The 2 leaders also reiterated strong support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan while emphasising the respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and non-interference in its internal affairs,’’ said the joint statement.
Welcoming Putin earlier, Modi said in his public remarks that while there had been many fundamental changes at the global level in the last several decades, and a number of geo-political equations had emerged, India-Russia friendship had been a constant among all these variables. “Both the countries have not only cooperated with each other without any hesitation but have also taken special care of each other’s sensitivities. It is truly a unique and reliable model of inter-state friendship,’’ said Modi, while recalling that the 2 sides had set a target of $30 billion in trade and $50 billion in investment by 2025.
Putin said Russia had been promoting military-technical cooperation with India “like with no other partner of ours’’. He described the developments in Afghanistan as a matter of great concern.
While talking about the focus on terrorism and Afghanistan, Shringla said the 2 sides held similar views on what was required to deal with groups like Al Qaeda, ISIL and LeT. The mention of LeT in the Afghanistan context is significant for India because of a lack of a consensus in Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral mechanism over naming of terror groups as China remains opposed to any mention of groups like LeT and JeM. The recent RIC joint communique had specifically mentioned ISIL and Al Qaeda but not LeT.
“They reaffirmed their firm commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including its financing, the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and countering radicalization, to ensure that Afghanistan would never become a safe haven for global terrorism,’’ said the joint statement.
The 2 leaders also “highly appreciated’’ the finalisation of the roadmap of interaction between India and Russia on Afghanistan which, according to the joint statement, symbolised convergence of views and interests of the two Sides. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov suggested after the inaugural 2+2 dialogue that India and Iran could be included in the extended troika on Afghanistan.
While Russia again expressed serious concerns over the Indo-Pacific and Quad initiatives, according to the India there was a realisation that both sides were already working together in the region, including in the form of the Chennai-Vladivostok corridor.