Legitimacy should not be ignored while deciding who rules Afghanistan: Jaishankar

New Delhi: External  Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday urged reduction in bloodshed and stressed that the "legitimacy aspect" of who should rule the country is of importance and should not be ignored.

Making this observation, he also said India is concerned at the turn of events during during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

"The point right now we stress is that we must see a reduction in violence. Violence cannot be the solution for the situation in Afghanistan," Jaishankar said. "At the end of the day, who governs Afghanistan has a legitimacy aspect of it. I think that is something which cannot and should not be ignored,” said Jaishankar, who is in Russia on a three-day



visit.

He said for more than 30 years, there have been international conferences, there have been groups, there have been formats to discuss how to stabilise and bring about peace in Afghanistan, Jaishankar said, adding that the reason is because it has proven implications for regional security and regional stability.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay said here on Friday that his country  is not heading back to the “dark age” as 40 member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are currently fighting a war on terror.   After the withdrawal of the NATO forces, it was expected that the country would have to face a difficult period, he added.