Why strategic engagement with Afghanistan is important for India

In the intricate chessboard of global geopolitics, two timeless axioms reign supreme: an enemy’s enemy is a friend, and there are no permanent allies or adversaries—only permanent interests. These principles find poignant resonance in India’s evolving stance towards Taliban-led Afghanistan.

As the world grapples with shifting power dynamics in South Asia, Delhi’s decision to rekindle diplomatic ties with Kabul is both plausible and pragmatic. It transforms a historically fraught relationship into a bulwark against shared threats, particularly from Pakistan, while unlocking avenues for economic and strategic expansion. At its core, this engagement underscores India’s maturity in navigating the post-2021 Afghan landscape, where ideology yields to necessity.

The most compelling catalyst for India’s diplomatic thaw with the Taliban is Afghanistan’s unwavering support for India following the devastating Pahalgam terror attack in April 2026. Afghanistan emerged as an unlikely but steadfast ally. Kabul’s government, under Taliban stewardship, issued unequivocal condemnations, breaking ranks with regional actors who hedged their bets. This support extended through Operation Sindoor, India’s precision surgical strikes deep into terrorist hideouts across Pakistan. Afghan officials not only refrained from criticism but actively shared intelligence, highlighting a convergence of interests against Pakistan sponsored terrorism spilling over borders.

Even more reassuring is the categorical assurance from Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, who in a September 2025 address to the UN General Assembly pledged that Afghan soil would never be used for anti-India activities. This commitment, echoed in bilateral talks in Doha, neutralises a perennial Pakistani ploy: leveraging Afghan territory as a launchpad for proxy warfare against New Delhi.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has long exploited porous borders to foment unrest in Kashmir and beyond, but Taliban’s firm rebuff—rooted in their own bitter fallout with Islamabad over unfulfilled promises of recognition and aid—has disrupted this axis. The Taliban’s vocal opposition to Pakistan’s meddling, including public denunciations of ISI-backed TTP elements operating from Afghan fringes, has apparently irked pro-Pakistan voices within India’s commentariat. Yet, for strategists in South Block, this rift is a golden opportunity.

By engaging Kabul, India circumvents Islamabad’s veto power in Afghan affairs, fostering a counterbalance that diminishes Pakistan’s regional clout. In essence, the Taliban, once reviled, now embodies the “enemy’s enemy” doctrine, offering India a foothold to isolate mutual adversaries. This pivot is no aberration but an extension of India’s deep-rooted historical affinity with Afghanistan, a bond forged over millennia and impervious to transient political upheavals. The subcontinent’s shared cultural tapestry weaves through ancient trade routes like the Silk Road, where Buddhist missionaries from India illuminated the Bamiyan Valley, leaving behind colossal statues that symbolised syncretic harmony until their tragic desecration.

This ancient legacy of mutual respect endures in the warmth of people-to-people ties, unmarred by the Taliban’s 2021 resurgence. In a region scarred by partitions and proxy wars, such ties remind us that cultures don’t conquer; they connect. Geo-strategically, Afghanistan’s 106-km border with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)—a sliver of territory India views as an inalienable part of its sovereign map—amplifies the stakes.

This narrow stretch, abutting Gilgit-Baltistan, has long been a smuggling corridor for arms and militants funnelled into the Kashmir Valley. Under Pakistani control, it serves as a choke point for Delhi’s writ, enabling Islamabad to sustain low-intensity conflict. Yet, with the Taliban government extending influence to these fringes, India gains leverage. Kabul’s commitment to border security, including joint patrols proposed in recent trilateral talks with Iran, could seal this conduit, starving terror networks of logistics.

For India, engaging Afghanistan isn’t just about goodwill; it’s about reclaiming strategic depth in a contested neighbourhood. By aligning with Kabul, New Delhi signals to Islamabad that PoK’s vulnerabilities can be exploited multilaterally, deterring adventurism and reinforcing India’s claim over the disputed region. Equally vital are India’s transformative infrastructure investments in Afghanistan since 2001, totaling over $3 billion in grants and lines of credit. These aren’t mere aid but anchors of influence, embedding Indian soft power in the Hindu Kush. The crown jewel is the Salma Dam in Herat, a 42-megawatt hydroelectric project that irrigates 75,000 hectares and powers 500,000 homes—symbolising India’s role as a developmental partner amid Western hesitancy.

The Afghan Parliament in Kabul, designed by Indian engineers and inaugurated by PM Manmohan Singh in 2011, stands as a testament to democratic aspirations, even as the Taliban adapts it to their Shura model. Roads like the 220-km Zaranj-Delaram highway link southwestern Afghanistan to Iranian borders, easing trade and countering Chinese inroads via the Belt and Road Initiative. Further afield, the Shahtoot Dam near Kabul promises water security for 2 million people, while electricity imports from India via Nepal and Bangladesh grids light up northern provinces.

These projects, resilient through Taliban takeover, have earned goodwill: Afghan officials credit them for averting famine during the 2022 drought. In return, India secures reconstruction contracts and resource access—Afghanistan’s untapped $1-3 trillion in minerals, from lithium to copper, beckons Indian firms like Vedanta. This economic entanglement ensures that engagement yields dividends, fostering a stable Afghanistan less prone to radicalisation and more inclined toward Indian partnerships.

Finally, strategic engagement unlocks India’s gateway to Central Asia via the Chabahar port, Iran’s Indian Ocean jewel. Developed with a $500 million Indian investment since 2016, Chabahar circumvents Pakistan’s Gwadar, providing a direct sea-land corridor to the resource-rich ‘Stans. The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), linking Chabahar to Russia through Iran and Azerbaijan, gains velocity with Afghan buy-in. Taliban-controlled routes through Herat and Farah provinces shave weeks off shipping times for Kazakh oil or Uzbek uranium, vital for India’s energy and nuclear ambitions. In a multipolar world, where China eyes the Wakhan Corridor for CPEC extension, Chabahar-Afghanistan linkage fortifies India’s Eurasian pivot, blending economic connectivity with security hedging.

In summation, India’s Afghanistan diplomacy is yet another adroit manoeuvre in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repertoire of geopolitical triumphs—from the Wuhan summit with Xi Jinping to the Quad’s revival and the I2U2 alliance. What began as a reluctant post-2021 freeze has blossomed into a multifaceted partnership, leveraging history, borders, investments, and transit routes to outflank adversaries. By embracing the fluidity of alliances, India not only safeguards its periphery but projects itself as a South Asian fulcrum.

In the grand bazaar of global politics, this engagement affirms: interests endure, enmities evolve, and strategic foresight prevails. As PM Modi himself quipped at the 2023 SCO summit, “The neighbourhood is changing—let’s shape it together.”

The writer is a national spokesperson of BJP and an author of multiple books. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.