CIA chiefs MI6, and Security Council secretary of Russia make beeline for India

CIA chiefs MI6, and Security

CIA chiefs MI6, The trips came as the Taliban’s former guard tightened its footing on power in Afghanistan. It is just over two weeks after the organization marched into Kabul on August 15. It was followed by the tumultuous collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government.

Top security and intelligence officials from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia have arrived in India. They came to examine the situation in Afghanistan. It is following the Taliban takeover of Kabul, as well as the ramifications for regional security.

Richard Moore, the head of the UK Secret Intelligence Service or MI6, was the first of the guests this week. He was followed on Tuesday by William Burns. He is the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

According to persons familiar with the circumstances, both spy chiefs and their teams met with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and key members of the National Security Council Secretariat.

Doval met with the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nicolay Patrushev, on Wednesday. Patrushev happens to be in India at Doval’s invitation for high-level bilateral inter-governmental meetings in Afghanistan; according to the foreign ministry.

Council secretary of Russia make beeline for India

Only three days after Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) commander, visited Kabul. The Taliban declared a 33-member interim leadership team led by senior political person Mohammad Hasan Akhund, a close associate to the group’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The discussions also discussed the way forward in Afghanistan, especially as Russia and China appear to be leaning toward probable recognition of the Taliban regime. Russia and China appear eager to collaborate with the Taliban to solve their security concerns, particularly the alleged danger from the Islamic State and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

While the Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledged Patrushev visit; there was no formal comment from either the British or American intelligence chiefs.

The meeting between Doval and Patrushev comes as a result of a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin on August 24, during which the two leaders pledged to be in close contact on the Afghanistan issue. According to the people, the consultations demonstrate the importance and possibility for further political and security collaboration in Afghanistan.