The new US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, who took over from Zalmay Khalilzad, is travelling to Europe and Asia, and is to visit India, coinciding with New Delhi hosting the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan. “Within my upcoming travels, I do plan to visit Pakistan, Russia and India,” he said at a news briefing, UNI news agency said.

India is hosting the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan on Wednesday, which will be attended by the top security chiefs of Russia, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Pakistan has declined the invite, while China said it cannot attend due to "scheduling issues."

West is also travelling to Islamabad to join the Troika Plus meeting on November 11, being convened by Pakistan, which will be attended by the special representatives of the other participating countries, Pakistan, China and Russia.

Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is travelling to Islamabad to attend the Troika Plus meeting. He will be in Pakistan on Wednesday, November 10, coinciding with the day India will be hosting the Delhi Dialogue on Afghanistan.

In a chat with reporters on Monday, West said that Washington has no plans to establish diplomatic relations with the Taliban any time soon, but supports their effort to crack down on the Islamic State’s Afghanistan outfit,or the Islamic State-Khorasan, which has been behind some of the recent horrific bombings in Afghanistan, mostly targeting the Shias.

West said the US has an “unwavering commitment to ensuring that Afghanistan never, ever again becomes a launching pad for terrorists to harm us or our allies.”

He said: “When it comes to reopening our embassy in Kabul … we’re not seriously thinking about taking that step at this time.”

Asked about the security situation in Afghanistan vis-a-vis international terrorist groups, West said: “We want the Taliban to succeed against ISIS-K. I think they have a very vigorous effort underway against that group."