What’s in the news?

• For the first time National Security Advisors (NSA) of all Central Asian nations will be participating in the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan next week. The meeting in New Delhi is of significance as it comes after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in August and Taliban’s efforts to get legitimacy globally.
• The meeting will be chaired by India’s NSA Ajit Doval. Russia and Iran are going to be part of this meet. Invitations have also been extended to Afghanistan’s immediate land neighbours – Pakistan and China. 
• Iran hosted two meetings in this format in September 2018 and in December 2019. Unfortunately, due to global pandemic of coronavirus the third meeting in this format could not take place in India.

Why is the situation in Afghanistan a meter of concern for Central Asian countries?

• Smaller Central Asian countries are more susceptible to terrorist’s threats and radicalization. And they are the ones which fear instability in their neighbourhood. There has been an influx of refugees from Afghanistan and there are also fears that militants could enter the region under the guise of seeking asylum.
• And, the Central Asian states are going to depend on Russia for their security concerns if the violence and instability in Afghanistan continues.
• As reported earlier, Russia had hosted a meeting on Afghanistan last month and India was at the table for talks.

Reference:

1. https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=India-to-host-Delhi-Regional-Security-Dialogue-on-Afghanistan-on-10th-November&id=429225