India takes tentative steps toward improving ties with Taliban-led govt

By Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Eltaf Najafizada

 

India and the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan have taken the first steps to ease strained relations since the group seized power three years ago amid a chaotic withdrawal of the US forces. 

The highly conservative Islamic establishment has asked New Delhi to resume development projects in the poverty-stricken nation when it met with a top Indian diplomat in Kabul last week, according to local officials in Afghanistan. The Taliban has also sent an administrator to Mumbai to help Afghan citizens with consular services.

 

India closed its embassy in Kabul in August 2021 and has since then limited its engagement with the country to providing occasional humanitarian aid. 

 

While a handful of countries, including China, Pakistan and Russia, have accepted Taliban diplomats, they don’t formally recognize the government, which has been condemned internationally for human rights violations. China was the first nation to grant diplomatic credentials to the Taliban last year.

 

Last week, Indian diplomat J.P. Singh and the Taliban’s Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid met in Kabul to discuss ways to expand relations and boost humanitarian aid to the country, according to an official statement. This was India’s first official meeting with Mujahid, who is considered a key decision-maker in the group. 

 

The Administrator of National Defense Ministry met with a

Delegation from India.

 

The defense ministry’s administrator, Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob

“Mujahid” at his office today, met with an Indian delegation, headed by... pic.twitter.com/Ju8IKncQn4

 

— د ملي دفاع وزارت - وزارت دفاع ملی (@MoDAfghanistan2) November 6, 2024 

During the trip, the Taliban made a request for New Delhi to invest in the country’s vast and untapped mineral resources, and also restart infrastructure projects, including building roads, according to local Kabul officials, who asked not to be identified as the discussions aren’t public. 

 

While India has received such requests in the past from Afghanistan, this is the first time it’s come from Taliban’s top leadership.

 

Before the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021, India was involved in over 500 development and infrastructure projects across Afghanistan, in areas ranging from power and water supplies to education and healthcare.

 

On Tuesday, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar New Agency reported that Hafiz Ikramuddin Kamil was appointed as the acting consul in Mumbai, citing an unnamed Afghan foreign ministry official. 

 

Indian officials, who asked not to be identified in order to discuss internal matters, said the Afghan community in India need consular services such as authentication of documents, but the appointment doesn’t amount to recognition of the Taliban. India’s External Affairs Ministry declined to comment when contacted for further information.

 

In an interaction with reporters in New Delhi last week, Randhir Jaiswal, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said India’s “approach” to Afghanistan is guided by “long-standing historical ties” between the two nations.

 

“I don’t have any detail as to what aid they asked for,” he added.

 

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.