Worried Neighbors - The RIC summit and Afghanistan

by Mehlaqa Samdani
 
While world attention focused on Afghanistan’s electoral process last week, an important summit took place between three of Afghanistan’s powerful neighbors.  

The foreign ministers of India, Russia and China met in Bangalore to discuss regional issues of mutual concern, with a special focus on bringing stability to Afghanistan.  This was the 9th meeting of the RIC (Russia, India, China) trilateral forum, where member countries convened to “discuss shared interests on the core issues of regional security - terrorism, religious extremism, political separatism, etc - and coordinate their policies”

During the conference, Russia painstakingly tried to bring India and China together to develop a collective strategy to address the deteriorating security and political conditions in Afghanistan, but largely failed in its efforts.  While the Russian foreign minister publicly dismissed the impact of Sino-India relations on the overall outcome of the meeting, experts suggest that “border disputes and the activities of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in India - were negatively impacting the work of the RIC.” 

Still, the three countries jointly expressed their commitment to “restoring peace and stability and building a democratic, pluralistic and prosperous Afghanistan” and “China joined the other two countries in condemning the “recent terror attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul”.  

The Russian foreign minister used the meeting to urge the Obama administration to consult and cooperate with regional groupings such as the RIC to develop a collective approach towards Afghanistan.  He emphasized the importance of a political settlement that is inclusive of all major ethnic groups in the country.  

Over the past several months, as US relations with Karzai deteriorated, Russia went out of its way to praise Karzai’s efforts in Afghanistan and has invited the Afghan leader to various summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

As NATO and the United States work to rebuild better relations with Karzai’s government, it remains to be seen in what manner Russia’s assistance will be elicited in this regard.  

While in recent weeks, NATO has urged Russian involvement in helping to train and equip Afghan forces, the alliance has been publicly criticized by Foreign Minister Lavrov, “for its failure to invite Russia to the alliance meetings on Afghanistan and refusal to interact with the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led defense bloc of former Soviet states, in curbing drug trafficking in Afghanistan”.