China to skip India's upcoming NSA meeting on Afghanistan due to 'scheduling issues'

After Pakistan, China has also said that it will not be attending the upcoming regional security dialogue on Afghanistan being hosted by India. According to ANI, China was invited for the ‘Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan’ which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 10 November. But Beijing has already communicated that it will be unable to attend the meeting due to “scheduling issues”. As per the news agency, China has, however, conveyed that it is open for dialogue with India on Afghanistan multilaterally and bilaterally. 

NSA Ajit Doval to chair the high-level dialogue

It is to mention that the ‘Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan’ will be held at the national security advisor (NSA) level and will be chaired by NSA Ajit Doval. Apart from China, Pakistan has also declined the invitation to the dialogue. Now, New Delhi will host security czars of Russia, Iran and five central Asian countries on Wednesday in a bid to explore firming up a common approach for practical cooperation in confronting increasing threats of terrorism, radicalisation and drug trafficking following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul. 

With the attendance of Russia, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, this is the highest participation in this format of talks. The aim of the dialogue is to send a “loud and clear” message to Kabul and assert that whosoever rules Afghanistan needs to represent the will of the people. "None of the eight countries (including India) recognize or legitimize the Taliban government. India also doesn't recognize it, which is why it has not invited Afghanistan to the dialogue," ANI sources said.

Meanwhile, the situation in Afghanistan experienced a 180-degree reversal, with the Taliban coming to power as US soldiers departed after a two-decade conflict and Afghan troops trained by them melted away. The meeting comes two weeks after an Indian delegation met with a Taliban mission led by Afghanistan's interim government's Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi in Moscow. During the meeting, both sides expressed readiness to deliver considerable humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country. JP Singh, joint secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs' Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division, led the Indian mission.

(With inputs from ANI)