New Delhi: Moscow has called for adding India to the Quad grouping on Afghanistan that currently has China, Pakistan, Iran and Russia. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday (Jan 14) at a briefing: "It is more important to strengthen trust within the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organisation], within the format that is currently working on Afghanistan (Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran). We are confident that the inclusion of India would be the right step." 
The "Afghanistan Quad" last met at the foreign ministers' level in November of 2024 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Pakistani Defence Minister Muhammad Asif were present at the meeting. 

A joint statement after the meeting called for support for Afghanistan's "national sovereignty, political independence, unity, and territorial integrity."

Afghan Quad on terrorism

Terrorism was a key issue that was discussed, with the joint statement expressing concerns over the "security situation related to terrorism in Afghanistan".

Significantly during the presser, Lavrov termed Pakistan a "victim of terrorism" and said for Islamabad to "fight against terrorism requires joining efforts with your Afghan neighbours, with India, with all SCO members, because Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan are used by "bad people" to plan and implement their criminal plans.
SCO had an Afghanistan Contact Group which had all members including India, but the group has become defunct since Taliban took power in in 2021.

India's engagement with new Afghan regime

The Russian minister's comments are significant at a time when New Delhi has increased its engagement with the Taliban government in Kabul. 

In early January, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi met in Dubai and discussed Chabahar port and Indian humanitarian assistance among other issues.
India had opened a "technical office" in Kabul in 2022 and since has had engagement with the Taliban government in Kabul, despite not recognising it. 
India had first "shared the table" with Taliban under the Moscow Format on Afghanistan in 2018, which was represented at "non-official level" by two former Indian diplomats: Amar Sinha, who was India's ambassador to Afghanistan and TCA Raghavan, who was India's High Commissioner to Pakistan.
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