<span style="color: #222222;">Ahead of the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue, India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held bilateral talks with his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan this evening. Sources said that during the meeting with the Tajik counterpart, a detailed exchange of views on Afghanistan, with significant convergence of assessments took place between the two sides. Both sides expressed concerns about the sharp increase in terrorist threats from Afghanistan in the recent past and the Tajik side highlighted the gravity of situation in Afghanistan. Besides, discussions on the looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan also took place. On the bilateral side, discussions took place on deepening cooperation in areas like defence, border management and border infrastructure development.<br />''<br />''Sources also added that during the meeting with Uzbekistan, Afghanistan was the major focus of discussions and both sides agreed that the future of Afghanistan must be decided by the people of Afghanistan themselves. They felt that the legitimacy of any Afghan Government within Afghanistan was important before the issue of its international recognition. India and Uzbekistan also emphasized the need for Afghanistan's neighbours to ensure unhindered access to humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. They also agreed that neighbouring states must play a constructive role in Afghanistan and highlighted the need for long term economic development of Afghanistan.</span><br />