Pakistan faced major embarrassment at the 11-nation meet on Afghanistan hosted by Moscow with Kabul sharply attacking Islamabad for its ‘duplicity’ in dealing with terrorism.

The 14 April meeting was attended by senior officials from Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The US, which too was invited for the meeting, did not attend it, calling it a unilateral attempt by Moscow to assert influence in the region. Incidentally, the meeting took place a day after the US dropped one of its most powerful non-nuclear bombs on IS targets in Afghanistan.

Pakistan was also cornered for its open endorsement of involving the Afghan Taliban in talks aimed at reconciliation in Afghanistan. In an indirect endorsement of India’s stand, the meeting reiterated that any peace process in the embattled nation should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned and that the countries of the region must support the regime in Kabul in its quest for sustainable peace. India is also believed to have reiterated that the Taliban must eschew violence and affirm its faith in the Afghan Constitution as a pre-condition for its participation in any peace talks.

According to Indian sources, Ashraf Haidari, senior representative of the Afghan Foreign Ministry, made a veiled reference to Pakistan’s direct interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and its continued support to radical and extremist forces working against the unity of Afghanistan. "Afghanistan rejects duplicity and selectivity in defining terrorism. This means that regional counter-terrorism efforts must mirror those of national counter-terrorism action plans adopted for implementation by Afghanistan’s neighbours, including Pakistan,’’ he told the meeting.

In recent days, senior Afghan officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan of continuing to nurture ‘safe havens’. At the ‘Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan’ in Amritsar in December last year, President Ashraf Ghani had himself spurned Pakistan’s aid offer to his country, saying Islamabad could use the same money for dealing with terrorism emanating from the Pakistani territory. This was the the third such interaction, hosted by Russia, which is also reported to be in touch with the Taliban and positioned itself as a broker in Afghanistan. The first meeting in December last year was attended by representatives of Russia, China and Pakistan, upsetting both Afghanistan and India. Kabul called that meeting 'illegal', saying a solution to the Afghan imbroglio could not be found without the involvement of the duly elected Afghan regime. Moscow included India, Afghanistan and Iran in the second meeting held in mid-February, making it a six-nation gathering. The US and Western powers, which have troops stationed in Afghanistan, however, continue to be the missing stake-holders in the initiative taken by Moscow.