In the first week of June, an Indian delegation led by JP Singh, Joint Secretary Pakistan-Afghanistan, met Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Muttaqi in Kabul, and according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both sides discussed humanitarian assistance and bilateral trade.
The visit which is seen as a departure from an earlier Indian stance has raised many questions including the scenario of recognizing the Taliban government. Although MEA has denied any such case, regional experts are looking more into it.
India has remained opposed to the reconciliation process in the past as New Delhi was wary that the Taliban’s return to power can deteriorate the security situation in Kashmir, as it has called the Taliban the proxy of Pakistan. Now Taliban are in power and they have become a reality. India neither can remain in denial nor can have the approach of “wait and watch”.
China, Pakistan, and Russia are actively engaged with the Taliban government but are shy of recognizing them on the basis of their human rights record and the absence of an inclusive government in Kabul. One of the main reasons is that the United States and Europe are also not inclined to give legitimacy to the Taliban.
Now India has extended its helping hand to the people of Afghanistan and exported aid including wheat to Kabul via Pakistan. India has a view that its help and ties are with the people of Afghanistan as it had already invested in building dams, infrastructure, and even the building of the Afghan Parliament. That was back in the days of President Karzai and President Ashraf Ghani.
India went far in its relation and also provided Afghan Security Forces with military training and equipment when they were fighting the Taliban. The takeover of Kabul is a setback for India. New Delhi had closed its diplomatic mission and development projects since August 2021.
After India left Afghanistan, Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Program at U.S-based Wilson Center, said that India has gone from being Kabul’s closest regional partner to one of the region’s most disadvantaged players in an Afghanistan context. Back in August 2021, India’s former External Affairs Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh, suggested New Delhi should establish diplomatic ties with the Taliban if it functions as a “responsible government”.
Shashi Tharoor in October 2021 wrote that “Taliban’s comeback will shake up the region’s geopolitics and an Afghanistan-Pakistan-China axis involving policy coordination would represent a major risk for India”. The recent visit by an Indian official delegation to Kabul and their meetings with the Taliban’s top leadership is a change of heart as the Taliban are the authority in Afghanistan whom they have to deal with if New Delhi wants to continue its diplomatic presence in the war torn country.
The Indian reluctance to engage with the Taliban is based on their assessment that they are the proxy of Pakistan and it also believes that the Afghan soil has been used against India by Pakistan. Pakistan had the same views regarding India as it has for a long time objected to the presence of Indian consulates in the border areas.
In an interview with CNN News 18, an Indian news channel, Afghan Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob clarified that the Taliban would neither allow Pakistan to use its soil against India nor permit India to do the same against Pakistan. Whereas, Pakistan Foreign Office has stated that Islamabad desires and aspires for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan and would not like to see anyone playing a negative role in this context.
Mullah Yaqoob in the same interview also expressed willingness to send Afghan army personnel to India for military training, saying they “don’t have any issue with it” and added that the defense relations can only be made after having strong political and diplomatic ties. While India had previously provided military training and equipment, this time it will not be easy to have such a facility for forces under the Taliban.
India by engaging with the Taliban, along with humanitarian, bilateral, and political discussion must have ensured that its assets and investments in Afghanistan do not imperil. As it is obvious that by starting a political relation with Kabul under the Taliban, India has to back off from its earlier stance that they are a proxy of Pakistan, it will also find difficulties in ensuring its former diplomatic presence in border areas of Afghanistan with Pakistan.
Pakistan might not have any objection to India-Afghanistan reengagement but it will ensure and press the Taliban that Islamabad will safeguard its interests and will not compromise on its security concerns.
