Pakistan, China signal readiness to attend SCO NSAs' meet virtually

New Delhi, March 28

China and Pakistan have signalled that they will virtually attend the meeting of National Security Advisers from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held here on Wednesday.

This meeting is likely to take up the issue of a potential nexus between ISIS, which is creating havoc in Afghanistan with its brutal bombings, and the money flowing in from the burgeoning drug trade in the country. This aspect was also taken up in the December meeting between NSA Ajit Doval and the five Central Asian NSAs.

The expectation is that the Taliban must take decisive action on terrorism and drug smuggling with the exponential rise in drug production to be the focus of discussions.

A statement by the Russian Security Council said its Secretary Nikolai Patrushev will take part in the annual meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the SCO member states. Patrsushev is in the innermost circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin and their association goes back to 1999 when he succeeded Putin as FSB chief (reorganised KGB).

His meeting with Doval will provide insights into the trajectory of the conflict in Ukraine and the extensive consultations between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Doval had met Patrushev last month in Moscow after travelling to the US and the UK to meet his respective counterparts.