Af without Pak & Islam

India doesn't have to see the Taliban as a hostile political force just because it is Islamic or Pakistan's friend. Modi govt can befriend it if BJP resets its domestic politics of polarisation

There is a flurry of activity between New Delhi and Kabul. The writing on the Hindukush wall is clear. The Taliban are on the ascendant. Where does it leave India?

Should India be heart-broken, jilted that new US President Joe Biden has made such a clinical retreat? Or, are there opportunities in the new turn? Is a relationship of hostility with the Taliban an inevitability? Similarly, do we take it for granted that they will continue to be an Islamic militia controlled by Pakistan?

After George W Bush invaded Afghanistan and co-opted Mr Musharraf’s Pakistan, Washington gifted us that description