India "Very Important" In Dealing With Afghan Crisis, Says UK: Report

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said international "contact group" needs to be formed to ensure Afghanistan can never be used to launch terrorist attacks against the UK or its allies.

India as a key partner of the UK in the region and chair of the United Nations Sanctions Committee will have a very important role to play in dealing with the unfolding crisis in Afghanistan with the takeover of the Taliban, the UK government said on Tuesday. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the way forward would involve the creation of some form of international "contact group" to ensure Afghanistan can never be used to launch terrorist attacks against the UK or its allies. "I think it's incredibly important in all of this to be working with a wider group of not just like-minded countries but partners that can exercise maximum influence. And that will mean, difficult as it is, to engage with China and Russia as well as our closer partners like India," Mr Raab told the BBC. The senior Cabinet minister, who faced some criticism for going ahead with his summer vacation plans as the Afghan capital of Kabul fell over the weekend, returned to London on Monday ahead of an emergency Parliament session on Wednesday.