India said on Thursday the countries near and little bit beyond Afghanistan have a very strong interest in ensuring that the outcome in Afghanistan is both good for the war-torn nation as well as the region.
The Taliban militants have seized dozens of districts in recent weeks and are now thought to control about a third of the country, ahead of the withdrawal of US and Western troops from Afghanistan by September 11.
Under a deal with the Taliban, the US and its NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a commitment by the militants that they would prevent extremist groups from operating in areas they control.
"If one looks at the issue of terrorism, both India and Russia are against fundamentalist thinking, violence, radicalisation and violent extremism. We are against terrorism," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.
Mr Jaishankar, who is in Russia on a three-day visit, made the comments in response to a question on Afghanistan at the Primakov Institute of World Economy & International Relations in Moscow.
"We are pluralistic societies. We have been targeted... I don't think we have changed our position on terrorism, on fundamentalism, on violence and on defending pluralistic societies," he said replying to the question.
"On Afghanistan, we have both supported a united Afghanistan, a sovereign Afghanistan, an Afghanistan where minorities have a fair share of representation. We were for an Afghanistan which was at peace with itself and at peace with its neighbours," he added.