On October 11, 2025, in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, Afghanistan's Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited Darul Uloom Deoband (Reuters)
In August 2021, US forces withdrew from Afghanistan, leading to the collapse of the Western-backed Kabul government, after which the Taliban regained power. India was forced to close its embassy in Afghanistan and rapidly evacuated its diplomats and citizens.
After more than four years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Hindu nationalist government in the capital New Delhi warmly welcomed an Afghan delegation led by the Taliban government's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
The Afghan Foreign Minister's one-week visit to India - the first official visit by a Taliban leader to India - is considered to be of pioneering significance. Muttaqi remains on the UN sanctions list and arrived in India with a temporary travel exemption from the United Nations.
Experts say that India's resumption of relations with the Taliban is part of its pragmatic policy, against the backdrop of the Indian government's efforts to counter Pakistan's influence in Afghanistan. The relationship between Afghanistan and its rival Pakistan has become increasingly tense due to cross-border attacks.
However, some analysts say that India's reception of the Taliban leaders' visit grants legitimacy to the Taliban government and in fact recognizes it, while the Taliban government has been striving to enhance its diplomatic legitimacy.
So why is India now embracing the Taliban? What happened during their meetings? What does New Delhi expect from the Taliban? What can the Taliban gain from this?
October 12, 2025, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and his team appeared in New Delhi, India (Reuters)
What happened during the meeting between India and the Taliban?
Muttaqi met with Indian officials during his visit to India, accompanied by officials from the Afghan Ministry of Trade and Foreign Affairs, to discuss bilateral diplomatic, trade, and economic relations.
Following Muttaqi's meeting with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar last Friday, the Indian side said it would reopen its embassy in Kabul.
Jaishankar stated, "Closer cooperation between us helps the development of your country as well as regional stability and resilience." He also reiterated that India "fully supports Afghanistan's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence."
Muttaqi referred to India as a "close friend." In a joint statement, New Delhi and the Taliban pledged to maintain "close communication and continue regular contact."
Afghan leaders also invited Indian companies to invest in their mining industry, stating that this "will help strengthen bilateral trade and commercial relations."
New Delhi stated that it is committed to further providing humanitarian aid and other development projects to Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world.
The Modi government also facilitated Muttaqi's visit to Deoband in northern India, where Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the most influential Islamic institutions in South Asia, is located.
Muttaqi announced on Monday that direct flights between Kabul and Indian cities, including Amritsar in Punjab, will soon be launched.
Why is India now embracing the Taliban?
Historically, India has viewed the Taliban as agents of Pakistan's intelligence agency. Many Taliban members studied in conservative religious schools in Pakistan, which provided critical support for the anti-Soviet jihad movement in the 1980s. The Taliban emerged from these jihads.
When the Taliban movement first took control of Afghanistan in 1996, India closed its embassy in Kabul and instead supported the Northern Alliance - an Afghan organization fighting the Taliban, and provided diplomatic support, aid, and training to counter Pakistan's influence and protect its regional interests. The Northern Alliance was also supported by other countries, including Iran and Russia.
Pakistan was one of only three countries that recognized the Taliban regime until it was overthrown in 2001 by a US-led invasion.
When US and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban, India reopened its embassy in Afghanistan, but still regarded the Taliban movement as an ally of Pakistan. India also accused the Taliban and its allies of being responsible for a series of bomb attacks on Indian diplomatic missions across Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, US leaders accused Islamabad of providing sanctuary to Taliban leaders and armed fighters, amid the Taliban's deadly armed campaigns against US-led NATO forces over two decades.
After the fall of the Kabul government in 2021, US-led forces withdrew, and after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, India once again closed its embassy in Afghanistan and stopped issuing visas to all Afghans, including students, businessmen, and even former government officials.
One year after the Taliban regained power, India began sending diplomatic signals and rebuilding its diplomatic presence in the country to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid. Over the past two years, India has allowed the Taliban to quietly take over the Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Indian officials and diplomats have held multiple high-level meetings abroad. In January this year, Muttaqi also met with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai, UAE.
Meanwhile, relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have deteriorated sharply. Islamabad accuses the Afghan rulers of harboring militant groups such as the TTP - which has carried out dozens of deadly attacks on Pakistani territory in recent years. However, the Taliban denied these allegations.
Analysts say that it is in this changing regional geopolitical context that India welcomed Muttaqi's visit.
"The cost of avoiding engagement with the Taliban (thus handing regional allies to Pakistan) is forcing the Indian government to strengthen its relations with Kabul," said Pravin Sawhney, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group based in New Delhi.
Sawhney, speaking about the lack of ideological common ground between the conservative Taliban regime and India's Hindu nationalist government, said, "This is a strategic relationship that cannot be ignored because of ideological reasons, or left for India's main strategic rival to exploit" - he added when talking about China's exchanges and investments with Afghanistan.
Sawhney told Al Jazeera, "This visit shows that India is willing to go beyond ideological concerns and prejudices and engage in practical contacts with the Taliban."
Retired Indian diplomat and former ambassador to Afghanistan Gautam Mukhopadhyay told Al Jazeera that unlike the period in the 1990s when Pakistan completely controlled the Taliban regime, the current regional dynamics have changed.
Mukhopadhyay said, "The new Taliban has a more global vision and is more astute. They must consider the greater interests of Afghanistan."
For centuries, India and Afghanistan have had deep cultural and trade ties dating back to the Mughal era. "This closeness to India has always existed," said Mukhopadhyay, "India has won goodwill locally by providing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan." The concept of 'Hindustan' holds significant importance in the hearts of Afghans."
This former diplomat added that India's "non-engagement" phase in the early days of the Taliban rule was an "abnormality" in bilateral relations. After the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, India reopened its embassy in Afghanistan.
October 11, 2025, in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, people held banners welcoming the arrival of Amir Khan Muttaqi (Reuters)
What does India expect from the Taliban?
Ajay Saini, executive director of the South Asia Terrorist Portal, said that for India, the Taliban regime is clearly not going to disappear soon, "we cannot easily give up on it just because we don't like this regime."
"We must face the political realities of the region," he added, "this situation requires India to increase its engagement with the Taliban and establish relationships with regimes that are willing to support India's position in the South Asian subcontinent."
The growing conflict between Kabul and Islamabad is a major factor in India's change in thinking.
Last weekend, cross-border fire between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated tensions between the two countries. It is believed that dozens of people on both sides were killed. This battle coincided with Muttaqi's visit to India.
Pakistan expelled tens of thousands of Afghan refugees, further intensifying the strained relations between the two neighboring countries.
In terms of regional relations, Afghanistan is one of the few countries that strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region in April this year. India attributed the attack to Pakistan - although Pakistan denied the accusation. This attack pushed the two South Asian rivals to the brink of full-scale war in May this year - both sides launched missile and drone attacks against each other.
Former envoy Mukhopadhyay said that the Taliban and India have a common enemy. "We both have grievances against Pakistan," he added, "which makes us natural allies."
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs expressed "deep gratitude" for the Taliban's "strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and sincere condolences."
The statement said, "Both sides clearly condemned all acts of terrorism originating from countries in the region," but the statement did not mention Pakistan. In response to India's security concerns, the Taliban Foreign Minister also "reiterated the commitment of the Afghan government not to allow any group or individual to use Afghan territory to oppose India."
October 12, 2025, Amir Khan Muttaqi held a press conference in New Delhi (Reuters)
What does this diplomatic engagement mean for the Taliban?
Ajay Saini said that the meetings held in New Delhi are significant for the Taliban and their domestic and international standing, given that the organization has been striving for diplomatic recognition. The Taliban government is currently recognized only by Russia, and several of its senior leaders remain under UN sanctions.
While paving the way for Taliban leaders, the Modi government faces some troubling issues domestically, including women's rights, broader human rights violations, and the killing of Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui in July 2021.
Last week, Muttaqi excluded female journalists from participating in his first press conference at the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, causing a storm. Opposition leaders and journalists in India criticized the government for remaining silent on the issue.
The next day, Afghan officials held another press conference, and female journalists were seated in the front row.
The visiting Taliban officials used the Afghan embassy in New Delhi for these events, which still hoisted the flag of the previous Western-backed government. However, since India has not officially recognized the Taliban government, they cannot yet control the embassy.
Gaining India's recognition and controlling its embassy in New Delhi would be a major diplomatic victory for the Taliban.
Analysts point out that for Afghanistan, deepening engagement with India could open the door for cooperation in trade, education, and healthcare, as reflected in the joint statement from both foreign ministries. Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries reached nearly $900 million.
Muttaqi also met with a group of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus in Delhi who had left Afghanistan in recent decades and now reside there. Muttaqi expressed willingness to welcome them back and restart their livelihoods.
Thousands of Afghan students study in Indian universities, and many Afghan traders rely on the Indian market. Some projects supported by India, from hospitals, dams to humanitarian aid, have been lifelines for many Afghan communities.
"The world may not understand, but for the Taliban, being courted by India is significant," Saini pointed out, "currently, very few people can provide them with legitimacy, trade, humanitarian aid, and diplomatic dignity."
Source: Al Jazeera
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7561287759768453642/
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