Moscow - Russia, Iran and Central Asian states called Friday for Afghanistan's neighbours to coordinate their efforts and be more actively engaged in helping the country fight terrorism and drug- trafficking. The comments at a Russia-sponsored summit on Afghanistan seemed targeted at alerting Washington just four days before a broader UN- led conference that it must play more attention to the interests of regional powers in strategy planning.
The talks were also timed as President Barack Obama announced the deployment of thousands more troops to quell resurgent Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members - Russia, China and the ex-Soviet states of Central Asia - were joined the summit by regional observers Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Iran to discuss efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.
Most opiate drugs from Afghanistan are smuggled into Russia through its vast and porous southern borders with Central Asia.
The country's top anti-drugs official Viktor Ivanov said the influx of drugs posed a serious threat to national security, and admitted this month that Russia had the largest number of heroin addicts of any country in the world.
Russia is also faced with its own battle with separatists linked to Islamic militants in the North Caucasus.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in his opening address, pledged greater cooperation with NATO's Afghan operations.
Russia has already approved supply transit routes through its southern territory, and Lavrov said it was "ready to examine other kinds of constructive cooperation," news agency Itar-tass reported.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and officials from the United States and European Union also participated in the Moscow talks Friday.
But an Iranian delegation in Moscow rejected a proposed meeting with US delegates.
