Statement by Russian Embassy's Press Secretary Dmitry #Solodov: In response to a number of queries from the Indian media we would like to clarify that #Russia's dedicated cooperation with India as an active participant in dialogue mechanisms on Afghan issues and the special and privileged strategic partner is natural, trusted and forward-looking.

Our deep involvement in such established formats, as the #SCO, including the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, the #Moscow format, etc., is very effective and result-oriented.

Given the deteriorating situation in #Afghanistan, the task to shape a relevant regional consensus to support the Intra-Afghan negotiations is becoming even more vital. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov recently stated in Tashkent, referring to the relevant 𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, the 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 of having #India and #Iran in the extended #Troika format would further enrich its potential in this regard.