The recent developments in Afghanistan will impact its neighbours and the region at large, India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval said on Wednesday. Chairing an eight-nation dialogue hosted by India, Doval called for close consultations, greater cooperation and coordination among regional countries on the Afghan crisis. India had been keenly watching the developments in Afghanistan, which have important implications not only for the people of that country but also for its neighbours and the region, he said.

The NSA hoped that the deliberations will be productive. “This is a time for close consultations amongst us,” he said.

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“I am confident that our deliberations will be productive, useful and will contribute to help the people in Afghanistan and enhance our collective security,” he added.

The Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan is being attended by Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as India attempts to forge a regional alliance for confronting increasing threats of terrorism, radicalisation and drug trafficking from Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of the country mid-August.

Pakistan and China gave the conference a miss with Moeed Yusuf, Doval’s counterpart from Islamabad, lashing out at India for trying to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, and asserting that “a spoiler can not try to be a peacemaker.”

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While China has issued no formal statement on the conference, it has actively sought to woo the Taliban by hosting its leaders in Beijing for talks, and by backing a more accommodating approach from the international community towards the regime. The China-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organisation held a special session on Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s neighbouring Iran hosted a foreign ministers’ meeting in capital Tehran in October where Russia was present. Pakistan hosted a ‘neighbours meeting’ a month earlier, which Moscow chose to skip.