India along with some other countries have called for having a "truly inclusive" government in Kabul and eradicating terrorism from Afghan soil and ensuring regional security.
This was the main take away from the talks under the Moscow format of consultations held there on Wednesday. The participants also called for “complete unfreezing” of Afghanistan assets by the USA and compensate the Afghans.
Special envoys from India, Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan participated in the meeting.
The Russian foreign ministry said the participants expressed a consolidated demand for the "complete unfreezing" of Afghanistan's assets by Washington.
"They resolutely urged the United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries that were part of the 20-year-long military presence in Afghanistan, to compensate the Afghans for the damage done during this period," it said adding representatives of Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkey were also present at the meeting as guests. A joint statement released by the Russian foreign ministry said the meeting asked Kabul to take more visible steps against all terrorist organisations, and to "firmly fight, dismantle and eliminate them, so as to ensure that Afghanistan would never again serve as a "breeding ground, safe haven or source of proliferation for terrorism".
It said the participants reaffirmed their readiness to assist Afghanistan in this regard. "In this context, participants strongly condemned the terror attacks targeting innocent Afghan civilians at public places, including educational institutes and the recent attack at the Russian embassy in Kabul," it said.
The joint statement said the participants expressed support for the Afghan authorities in developing crop substitution programmes and cracking down on narcotics production and trafficking.
It also said the participants emphasised on the importance of forming a truly inclusive government in Afghanistan, reflecting the interests of all major ethno-political groups of that country.
"Underscoring that an economic meltdown in Afghanistan would lead to a mass exodus of refugees, promote extremism, terrorism and instability, concern was expressed about the aggravation of the migration situation around Afghanistan, which could pose a threat to the peace and stability in neighboring countries," the joint statement said.
The Russian foreign ministry said it presented its 'White Book' on the civilian losses in Afghanistan due to the "illegal actions of the US and its allies" during the meeting.
The ministry of external affairs here said on Wednesday the participants discussed issues related to Afghanistan, including the current humanitarian situation and the ongoing efforts of various stakeholders to provide assistance, intra-Afghan talks, formation of an inclusive and representative government, efforts to counter threats of terrorism and ensuring regional security.. On the sidelines of the Moscow Format Meeting, Indian delegation led by Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran), Ministry of External Affairs also held discussions with Special Envoys of the participating countries.