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Russia, India agree Afghan statehood must be shaped by the people — Security Council

The Taliban movement launched a massive operation for establishing control of Afghanistan after the United Sates last spring declared the intention to withdraw its armed forces

NEW DELHI, September 8. /TASS/. The Russian Security Council's Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and the Indian prime minister's National Security Adviser Shri Ajit K. Doval in the course of consultations in New Delhi stressed that the parameters of Afghanistan's future state system must be shaped by the country's people, the Russian Security Council's press-service said on Wednesday.

"The importance was stressed of letting the Afghans themselves determine the parameters of Afghanistan's future statehood, as well as the need for preventing an escalation of violence and social, ethnic, and religious contradictions in that country," the news release runs.

Taking part in the consultations were representatives of a number of Russian and Indian government ministries and agencies.

The Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) launched a massive operation for establishing control of Afghanistan after the United Sates last spring declared the intention to withdraw its armed forces. On August 15, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and left the country. The Taliban entered Kabul without encountering any resistance.

The Taliban's spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid on Tuesday announced the composition of Afghanistan's new government, which consists exclusively of the radical movement's members, most of them Pashtuns. The Cabinet's chairman is Mohammed Hassan, who also leads the Shura (the Taliban's Council). In the meantime, the radicals have said the current makeup of the Cabinet of Ministers is temporary.