Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is on his maiden visit to India. The Taliban-led government came to power after the United States’ withdrawal from Kabul in 2021 and is yet to receive recognition by world powers. While India enjoyed good relations with Afghanistan historically, it had to close its High Commission in Kabul in 2021. New Delhi opened a small mission a year later, merely to facilitate some medical support, trade, and humanitarian help.
In fact, there is a dilemma as to which flag will be used during official talks, since it is the old flag of Afghanistan that is officially recognised by Indian authorities, not the current white-and-black Taliban flag.
After four years of diplomatic blizzard, the relationship between Afghanistan and India appears to be approaching a much–needed thaw. It began with Muttaqi’s telephone call to New Delhi, condemning the dastardly Pahalgam attack on unsuspecting Hindus. New Delhi has repeatedly called for maintaining the neutrality of Afghan soil, so that Afghanistan should not be used for terrorist activity against any country. India has provided food and developmental cooperation to Afghanistan on earlier occasions as well. This diplomatic outreach is to be seen separately from the US push to take over the Bagram airbase. Countering the move, India, China, Russia, and seven other countries have opposed efforts to deploy foreign military infrastructure in Afghanistan.
Under these diplomatic circumstances, India has welcomed the delegation led by Muttaqi. And the visit has elicited much drama from the Opposition. The Congress propaganda machinery was propelled into high gear when the Taliban excluded women journalists from a press conference held at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi.
“Prime Minister @narendramodi ji, please clarify your position on the removal of female journalists from the press conference of the representative of the Taliban on his visit to India,” wrote Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on X. “If your recognition of women’s rights isn’t just convenient posturing from one election to the other, how has this insult to some of India’s most competent women been allowed in our country, a country whose women are its backbone and its pride.”
Others continued in the vitriol-filled vein, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for acceding to their “discriminatory and primitive mores”. All this, notwithstanding the fact that the presser was held within the confines of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, which, under the Vienna Convention 1961, is inviolable by Indian authorities. By creating this brouhaha, the Gandhis continue to expose their own ignorance of diplomacy and international conventions. And the Afghan embassy has already welcomed women journalists for a briefing.
Geopolitical need
India has maintained its stand of neutrality and some diplomatic relations with the Taliban since complete isolation is not in anybody’s interest. The official ambiguity around the recognition remains. Historically, New Delhi has been the largest regional provider of humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the strife–torn region. It was “the biggest regional donor” in 2017. India built over 200 public and private schools, sponsored over 1,000 scholarships, and hosted over 16,000 Afghan students.
Yet, in 2021, India-Afghan relations plummeted to a new nadir, with both sides closing their embassies and withdrawing their diplomats. Now, Pakistan-Taliban relations are rapidly deteriorating, as their honeymoon seems to be over. And Kabul and New Delhi have reopened their embassies, with Muttaqi stating that “India is a close friend”.
India’s engagement with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is both strategic and opportunistic. In the past, it was concerned about Afghan soil being used for housing outfits like Al–Qaeda and the resurgence of outfits like the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (IS–KP), Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Pakistan’s increasing aggression in Afghanistan’s North-West frontiers has nudged Kabul toward New Delhi, an opportunity that India can’t afford to miss. Simultaneously, the Taliban’s engagement with India helps project an image of legitimacy before their domestic audience. Since returning to power, they have been seeking to present their foreign policy as pragmatic, balancing power and economic cooperation. Their strained relationship with Pakistan has also prompted them to diversify their diplomatic options and assert independence from Islamabad’s influence. While this dynamic provides India with greater room for strategic engagement, New Delhi must also remain alert to the evolving China-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral framework.
The international community has shown considerable concern on several issues—the status of women, minority rights, and the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is worth noting that similar, if not identical, concerns are worth mentioning in the neighbouring state of Pakistan. But not even lip service is provided by the West on such issues. Indian influence is likely to have a positive impact in such areas in Afghanistan, as we saw women journalists were finally invited to the press conference.
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Afghanistan’s ancient link with India
India and Afghanistan share an ancient history, which can be traced back to the Indus Valley era. The borders of ancient India extended all the way to Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the Mahajanapads. Alexander the Great conquered this land, and subsequently, some parts were ceded to the Mauryans through a strategic alliance. So, the history of India and Afghanistan is intertwined, with Hinduism and Buddhism being the prominent religions. Afghanistan has always been linked to ‘Hind’.
Babur invaded and captured Kabul in the early 16th century, using the city to launch his invasion of ‘Hindustan’. The onslaught of invasions by the Ghaznavis, Ghunds, Khaljis, Mughals, and Durranis, which occurred between the 10th and 18th centuries, led to the alteration of its civilisations and a decline of its Vedic and Buddhist traditions. Many Afghans emigrated to India during this time due to the political unrest.
Situated strategically on the Silk Route at the crossroads of Central and South Asia, Afghanistan was a vital hub for eastern trade between China, India, Persia, and the Mediterranean. In the 19th century, Islam was firmly ensconced after numerous invasions by Arab conquerors. The early 20th century saw Great Britain repeatedly attempting to annex Afghanistan to protect its interests in India, but it didn’t succeed, and in 1921, the independent nation of Afghanistan emerged, which was formally recognised by the US in 1934.
Gradual shift to radicalism
My first interaction with Afghan people was during college, when my very progressive friend was the daughter of a senior diplomat posted in Afghanistan. From her, I learned how progressive the country was. Women enjoyed a considerable amount of freedom and had a strong public presence, attending universities and participating in public life. I encountered many Afghans in my neighbourhood, as Delhi University was a bustling place with a cosmopolitan feel, attracting a significant number of students from Afghanistan.
Until 1973, Afghanistan had been under monarchy, which was overthrown by the communist forces of Mohammed Daoud Khan. During this period, equal rights for women, a modern state, and a Sufi form of Islam were the order of the day. However, the assassinations and coups led to chaos and ultimately foreign interference, as has been observed during many regime change operations.
Once a land of culture and peace, Afghanistan spiralled into a cesspool of destruction and devastation. It became fertile ground for the likes of Osama Bin Laden and the Mujahideen. Finally, in 1995, the Taliban, an Islamic militia offering peace and stability to war–weary Afghans, rose to power. The rest, of course, is history. Another couple of decades of unrest and mayhem followed, until the Taliban took over in a post-US Kabul, ironically on 15 August 2021. Foreign interference has exacerbated the country’s economic crisis. It is heartbreaking to see that the beautiful region where Vedism and Buddhism thrived has been reduced to an arid desert of ignorance and poverty.
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Baby steps to peace
Under the BJP government, India has reciprocated the proverbial peace offerings by welcoming the Afghan foreign minister. The BBC calls these baby steps a “growing engagement between India’s right-wing Hindu nationalist government and the Islamist Taliban”. Be that as it may, Afghanistan’s strategic geopolitical importance in the region cannot be trivialised. With two hostile neighbours in the immediate vicinity and one in the greater region, it is imperative to forge alliances that can offer India some stability and remove the need to constantly look over the shoulder.
Muttaqi has strongly defended the Taliban’s rule, claiming peace and stability have returned since 2021, with far fewer deaths than before. He also dismissed criticism over women’s rights, asserting that Afghanistan’s laws reflect its own customs and that “those engaging in propaganda are mistaken”.
There is no doubt that among Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians, only a handful of these communities remain in Afghanistan. Who can forget the images of the holy Guru Granth Sahib being repatriated most reverentially via evacuation flights under Operation Devi Shakti, monitored personally by PM Modi? However, in the current scenario, it is best for India to engage in a pragmatic approach and enable healthy and constructive discourse with the Taliban—even in the face of provocative rhetoric and performative posturing from the Gandhis.
Let’s not forget that India has to be concerned about the rights and security of its own citizens within its own jurisdiction. One can remain hopeful that under liberal Indian democratic values, Afghanistan is also able to reinvent itself. This is a time to recalibrate and reset our relationship with Afghanistan, with an eye on the region’s geopolitical shifts.
Meenakashi Lekhi is a BJP leader, lawyer and social activist. Her X handle is @M_Lekhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)