WASHINGTON - Afghanistan, India and the United States Tuesday held their first tri-lateral dialogue in New York, on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session, marking the beginning of a series of consultations between the three Governments.

Held at the level of Deputy Foreign Minister level, the first of its kind trilateral meeting marked further strengthening of Afghanistan's cooperation with two of its key friends and partners who are fully behind the vision of a secure, peaceful, democratic and prosperous country, a senior Afghan official said.

While the Afghan delegation was led by the Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin; the US team was represented by its Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador, Marc Grossman and the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake.

The Indian delegation was represented by the Joint Secretary (Pakistan/Afghanistan/Iran) Y. K. Sinha and Joint Secretary (Americas) Jawed Ashraf.
"All sides welcomed the frank and comprehensive nature of the discussions and agreed the dialogue helps advance their shared values, interests and goals," Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations said in a statement. The meeting was held at the mission's premises in New York.

The announcement for tri-lateral meeting was announced by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, after the India US Strategic Dialogue in Washington early this year. "Today we agreed to move forward with a formal trilateral consultation among our three nations," Clinton told reporters at a joint news conference on June 13.

The announcement was also reflected in the joint statement issued at the end of the strategic dialogue. "To support their efforts in Afghanistan, they agreed to hold a trilateral dialogue with the Government of Afghanistan," said the joint statement.

Later this week, officials of Afghanistan, WE and Pakistan would meet at the Deputy Foreign Minister level to hold another the-lateral meeting. (Pajhwok)