India-Russia have common ground on Afghanistan, says MEA Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Monday said that both India and Russia have common ground on Afghanistan.

New Delhi: With Intra-Afghan peace talks is reaching to its climax, India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale has claimed that both India and Russia have the common ground on Afghanistan.

Claiming that India has been supportive of all peace initiatives, Gokhale elaborated India's position saying, "our issue has been on the post-settlement situation and in that regard, our position has been clear."

He further asserted saying, "we prepare a system which has a constitutional legitimacy political mandate and insurance stability and more importantly will not leave any space for terror outfits."After the 9th round of us Taleban talks which concluded last week, U.S. special representative for intra-Afghan talks Zalmay Khalilzad showed the draft agreement prepared between U.S. and Taliban.The negotiations are focused on the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees but not to allow the country to be used as a base for attacks abroad.We would like to add that the Afghan government has been shut out of the peace process as the Taliban dismisses it as the puppet of the U.S.