ISLAMABAD – Intelligence chiefs of Russia, China, Iran and Pakistangathered in Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss measures against the threat ofaggregation of the Islamic State militants in Afghanistan, Russian newsagency TASS has reported.
The official confirmation of the meeting came from Sergei Ivanov, chief ofthe Russian Foreign Intelligence Service’s press bureau. The Director ofthe Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, represented Russia.
“The discussions focused on the dangers arising from a build-up of theIslamic State on the Afghan territory,” Ivanov said.ADVERTISEMENT
“The conference reached understanding of the importance of coordinatedsteps to prevent the trickling of IS terrorists from Syria and Iraq toAfghanistan from where they would pose risks for neighboring countries,” hesaid.
Sources in Delhi told The Indian Express that India has bilateralengagements with all the relevant agencies in Russia, China and Iran,especially on intelligence-sharing and counter-terrorism.
While New Delhi and Islamabad have not had bilateral engagement with eachother on counter-terrorism cooperation, sources said they have cooperatedunder the rubric of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the past sixmonths.
In January-February this year, New Delhi hosted a SCO meeting ofcounter-terrorism specialists, and Islamabad sent a top four-member team ofcounter-terrorism and intelligence specialists to attend the meeting.
Interestingly, all four countries which met in Islamabad on Tuesday aremembers of SCO, but sources said the meeting was not under the rubric ofSCO.ADVERTISEMENT
Counter-terrorism meetings under SCO are organised under the aegis ofRegional Anti-terrorism Structure (RATS), which is based in Tashkent inUzbekistan.