Why are India and Pakistan wooing Afghan Taliban? Islamic ties or development? Kabul is likely to choose...

India.com

13-07-2025

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in a meeting with Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. (File)
India-Afghanistan relations: The Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan after the 2021 US exit, was once reviled as a hostile force by regional and global powers, but ironically, the group is now being wooed by both India and Pakistan, and even China. Notably, neither India, nor Pakistan has formally recognized the Afghan Taliban regime, yet both New Delhi and Islamabad are making extensive efforts to enhance bilateral ties with Kabul, especially after the recent India-Pakistan conflict. Why India and Pakistan seek closer ties with Afghanistan?
Afghanistan is strategically important for both India and Pakistan, and Kabul's importance has increased manifold after the recent India-Pakistan conflict, with both Islamabad and New Delhi now making moves to build closer relations with the ruling Afghan Taliban. Earlier this year, the Afghan Taliban issued an open condemnation of the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, and to the surprise of many geopolitical experts, did not come out in support of Pakistan when India launched Operation Sindoor.
Kabul's silence and condemnation of Pahalgam attack was viewed by many as a pro-India stance. A few days after India-Pakistan ceasefire, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and thanked him for condemning the attack, marking the first instance of an Indian Foreign Minister directly speaking to an Afghan Taliban leader since the group came to power in 2021.
The growing ties between India and Afghanistan rattled Pakistan, and Islamabad soon started making its own moves, such as holding China-mediated bilateral meetings to resolve issues with Kabul in an effort to sideline India. How New Delhi is developing closer India-Afghanistan relations?
Over the past two years, New Delhi has been cautiously building closer ties with Kabul, bolstering the efforts by sending humanitarian supplies like food, medicines and vaccines to Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban, which stands largely isolated on the global platforms, has appreciated India's gestures.
Earlier this year, in January, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held talks with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on trade and regional security, a diplomatic move which was seen as New Delhi's recognition of changing geopolitical realities in South Asia.
Notably, after the Taliban seized power in 2021, India feared that the country would once more become a haven for Pakistani terrorists, but to New Delhi's delight, Kabul has moved away from Islamabad due to a multitude of reasons. What makes Afghanistan important for India?
Afghanistan is strategically-placed, which makes it highly important for regional players like India, Pakistan, China, and even Iran, for several reasons, including trade. 'Afghanistan is important to India for creating a common front against Pakistan as well as for trade opportunities, including mineral reserves,' Uday Chandra, an assistant professor at Georgetown University, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
On the other hand, Pakistan has had turbulent relationship with the Afghan Taliban after they came to power. Islamabad is concerned about the illegal immigration of Afghan refugees across the Durand Line– a colonial-era border that separates Afghanistan from Pakistan, but has not been recognized by any Afghan government. Where does China stand?
China, the undisputed economic power in South Asia, has filled the power vacuum that was created after the US troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. Beijing has made several strategic moves to bring Kabul under its influence, including developing the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which will link the Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province to Pakistan's Gwadar port, and is crucial for its proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
However, China's mega projects in the region mandate cordial ties between Pakistan and Kabul, which has prompted Beijing to act as mediator between the two neighbors as it pushes to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan. Who will Kabul choose?
Now the big question is who will Kabul actually choose to build closer ties with? India, which offers peaceful-co-existence and development; or Pakistan, a neighbor with whom Afghanistan shares cultural, economic, and religious similarities, and is backed by a powerful China, who also offers economic benefits.
Experts believe that Kabul will maintain a neutral stance as it needs both countries in different ways. The Afghan Taliban has tensions with Islamabad due to the Afghan refugee crisis and the resurgence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)– a terror group responsible for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of backing the TTP but Kabul has refuted the accusations.
However, despite the tensions, Pakistan and Afghanistan share close people-to-people ties, which makes it difficult for Kabul to entirely shift to India's side. Thus, its expected that Afghanistan will try to balance its relations with India and Pakistan, and reap benefits its badly needs from both regional players.