Russia pitches 'Moscow format' to India for Afghan peace
By Anish Kumar | First Published Apr 7, 2021, 8:17 AM IST'Moscow format', an initiative to settle the Afghanistan conflict, is Russia's attempt to bring the regional powers and the Taliban together to find ways to bring peace to the war-torn country.
Russia shares a similar position on the Afghanistan peace process with India and the best way forward would be to adopt the Moscow format, visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
'Moscow format', an initiative to settle the Afghanistan conflict, is Russia's attempt to bring the regional powers and the Taliban together to find ways to bring peace to the war-torn country.
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"We have the same position with India," the Russian Foreign Minister said, adding that the best way is 'Moscow format'.
🇷🇺 FM Sergey :
🇮🇳 is a key player to promote peaceful settlement in 🇦🇫 and definitely should be engaged in international efforts supporting Afghan national reconciliation process.https://t.co/ulRCJZ3Ng3 pic.twitter.com/OM559JvODK
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart held bilateral talks in the national capital on Tuesday where the two ministers discussed a range of issues pertaining to trade, investment, defence, nuclear ties among others.
"One question on which we spent some time is the unfolding developments in and around Afghanistan. For India, what happens in Afghanistan impacts its security directly," Jaishankar told media persons during the joint press conference.
In reply to a question of additional procurement of S-400 air defence system and US sanctions, Jaishankar said, "We didn't get into a specific discussion and it is the responsibility of a different body headed by our defence minister which will meet at the end of this year."
In 2018, India signed a pact to procure S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia despite warnings of sanctions from the United States.
Lavrov, who arrived in New Delhi on Monday evening on a two-visit would also visit Pakistan.
On additional production of Russian military equipment in India, Lavrov said, "We discussed prospects of additional manufacturing of Russian military equipment in India within the concept of Make in India. So here, I didn't see any changes from our Indian partners and friends."
Lavrov further said, "We didn't discuss statements from the US. Instead, we confirmed that we are going to deepen our military cooperation. We have a governmental committee on military-technical cooperations that has its own plans."
On forging a military alliance with Beijing, the visiting minister said, "We have no plans to sign a military alliance with China."
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