India to attend SCO meeting in Moscow today

Moscow, Mar 27 (ANI): India will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on Friday.

The conference is being held ahead of the March 31 meeting on Afghanistan in The Hague, under the initiative of the United States. India is participating in both the meetings.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy, Satinder Lambah, will represent India at the conference.

While India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status at the SCO, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are full-time members of the organisation.

During the conference, Lambah is expected to express resentment against treating any section of the Taliban as "good".

The Indian Government has been worried about reports from Washington that the Obama administration wants to reach out to the so-called "good Taliban", the moderate section of the terrorists in Afghanistan-Pakistan in a bid to control the war situation there.

India is likely to call for stabilisation in Afghanistan, by way of giving emphasis to developmental initiatives and military and security components in creating a zone of peace.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and senior officials from the U.S., the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and other international organisations will participate in the conference. (ANI)