Russia ready to work with U.S. on Afghan "terrorism"

NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Russia is ready to work with the India and the United States to tackle religious extremism, terrorism and narcotics smuggling from Taleban-controlled Afghanistan, a senior Russian official said on Monday.

"I see a lot of scope for such kind of cooperation," Russia's first deputy minister for foreign affairs, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, told reporters in New Delhi, where he took part in the first meeting of the Indo-Russian Joint Working Group on Afghanistan.

He was replying to a question on whether Russia and India would work with Washington against the perceived terrorist threat from Afghanistan.

"Without internal peace in Afghanistan, we will see now and then the threat of terrorism and narcotics coming from the territory controlled by the Talibs (Taleban). It is a real threat."

India and Russia decided to set up their joint working group on Afghanistan during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi in October.

"All aspects relating to the Afghanistan situation will be discussed," said an Indian spokesman on Friday, when asked whether the Indo-Russian talks would include intelligence-sharing on terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Russia accuses the Taleban of actively helping Chechen rebels while India has said many militants fighting against its forces in Kashmir are from Afghanistan.

India and the United States have formed a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism while Britain and India are in the process of setting up a similar panel.