President Ashraf Ghani met India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, the Palace reported, adding that both sides discussed cooperation in countering terrorism and strengthening a regional consensus on the Afghan peace process. 

“The Afghan security forces are the righteous pillars of Afghanistan’s stability and are fighting in the front lines against the regional and global terrorism,” Ghani told Doval, according to the Palace. 

Doval also met with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and discussed Afghanistan and India’s friendly strategic relations, the peace process and regional cooperation on the Afghan peace process, Karzai's office said. 

Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council of National Reconciliation, met Doval and discussed the peace process, the beginning of the second round of talks and the role of India in establishing peace in Afghanistan, Abdullah's office said. 

Doval made a previously unannounced visit to Afghanistan for talks on strategic issues with the leadership in Kabul against the backdrop of a spike in violence blamed on the Taliban, the Hindustan Times reported. 

Doval is on a two-day visit in Afghanistan, it said

According to the report, India has consistently backed an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process and said that the gains made in the war-torn country in the past two decades must be preserved.  

New Delhi has also said any solution in Kabul must ensure that Afghan territory isn’t used for terrorism directed against India, the report said.