India, Russia discuss situation in Afghanistan

India and Russia had wide-ranging discussions on evolving situation in Afghanistan during Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale's two-day visit to the country.

An External Affairs Ministry release said that during the visit which concluded on Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov for foreign office consultations.

The discussions reviewed the implementation of the decisions of the 19th Annual Bilateral Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi in October last year.

Both sides also discussed preparations for the forthcoming high-level meetings, including India's participation in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September this year.

"The talks covered preparations for the next bilateral summit, cooperation in the formats of SCO, RIC and other bodies. There were wide-ranging discussions on evolving situation in Afghanistan," the release said.

The Foreign Secretary also met Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. Their discussions covered regional and international issues including those relating to disarmament and non-proliferation and cooperation between India and Russia at various multilateral fora. -IANS