Key Putin aide visits New Delhi, holds talks on Afghanistan

NEW DELHI — Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, held talks with J.P. Singh, Joint Secretary for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran in the Ministry of External Affairs, here on Wednesday.

Kabulov is the Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan and also the Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asian Department.

Interestingly, his visit to the national capital comes just two days after India and Iran signed a 10-year agreement on Chabahar port which the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to include in the framework of the multilateral International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project.

Late last month, Kabulov travelled to Kabul to hold meetings with the interim senior leadership of Afghanistan, including Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Kabir, Foreign Affairs Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Acting Minister of Interior Affairs, Sirajuddin Haqqani.

A seasoned diplomat with a firm grip over the affairs in the region, Singh too was in Kabul in the first week of March to hold talks with Muttaqi, including on India-Afghanistan relations and economic transit matters.

It is pertinent to mention that besides working on maintaining peace in the region, India remains keen to expand trade with the Central Asian countries, Russia, and beyond through the Chabahar port in Iran which has played a key role in enhancing regional connectivity.

India has also used the port to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, especially to Afghanistan during the Covid-19 pandemic by shipping tonnes of wheat and pulses to Kabul via the Shahid Beheshti Terminal.