As the situation in Afghanistan worsens and the Taliban gets closer to Kabul in the wake of the United States army's withdrawal, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be sitting down with his counterparts from Russia, China and Pakistan, all important stakeholders in the unfolding geopolitical conflict in Afghanistan.
Jaishankar is currently in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe for a two-day meet trip for the Shanghai Cooperation Organizations (SCO) Foreign Ministers Meet.
However, sources say the main item on the foreign minister's agenda is the SCO Contact Group on Afghanistan meeting on July 14.
Jaishankar-Atmar meet
On July 13, Jaishankar met the Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar. Ahead of the meeting, sources had told Moneycontrol that Afghanistan remains open to seeking assistance from India if the ongoing conflict escalates further in the coming weeks, even though it hasn't made a formal communication to this effect.
"Given the Taliban's propensity for violence and the sudden rise in fighting, Afghanistan may also seek military help, even though they haven't so far. India is trying to avoid such a scenario and is aiming to bring all foreign players on the same platform, that of unanimously condemning all violence," a person in the know said.
However, getting Pakistan to make a commitment on Afghanistan remains tough, especially since the meeting comes a day after as many as 15 Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack by the Pakistani Taliban in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
China focus
Instead, New Delhi has focused its energy on China for the moment. The meeting will give India the opportunity to understand what Beijing has planned for Afghanistan, sources said.
The Afghan media has reported of an informal agreement between China and the Taliban to not attack each other, for the time being.
The SCO Foreign Minister's meeting will also lay the foundation for the upcoming Leader's Summit in September in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The SCO is a political, economic, and security alliance of eight nations, historically led by Russia and China.
The summit is considered a key platform for central Asian geopolitics as four nations from the region — Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan - are members. Both India and Pakistan officially joined the SCO as full members in 2017.
Read: Opinion | Surging Taliban is pushing India again towards Eurasia
Connectivity summit
Jaishankar will be visiting Uzbekistan from July 15-16 for a Regional Connectivity Summit, also focused on Afghanistan.
The summit, named, Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities, is an initiative of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and will take place in Tashkent from July 15-16.
The summit is aimed at identifying strategic projects boosting trade and connectivity in the region.
It will see a gathering of leaders from South and Central Asia with aims to increase connectivity between the two regions.
Uzbekistan is a double land-locked country, meaning it is surrounded by countries which are also land-locked. Apart from Liechtenstein in Europe, it is the only double-landlocked country in the world.
According to Euractiv Events, which organizes bilateral and multilateral policy stakeholder events: "Expanding links between South and Central Asian markets is a decades-old conversation. Tashkent, who is ever keen to be a regional player, wants to use the conference as a launchpad for Central Asia’s deeper engagement with South Asia."
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