India's Diplomatic Reach to Taliban Proves to Be Productive

India's diplomatic outreach to the Taliban has yielded dividends, ensuring the militant group does not allow Afghan soil for anti-India terror activities while facilitating humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

One of the diplomatic triumphs of the Modi government has been the proactive outreach to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which has resulted in a deal that assures that the militant group will not use Afghan soil for anti-India terror activities.

With the Taliban capturing Kabul on August 15, 2021 and the consequent evacuation of Indian embassy personnel, Indian security experts have been quickly trying to assess the security implications of a pro-Pakistan Taliban. Nevertheless, the diplomacy, executed in both the open and the secret channels, has helped India to create a basis for cooperation with the Taliban top leadership; the process has begun while Modi was the PM.

Indian diplomat J.P. Singh has been to Kabul not less than four times since August 2021 and had been in talks with the Taliban. Contrary to the assumption that the Taliban would be taking a nationalistic Pashtun stance, distancing itself from Pakistan's schemes of strategic depth in Afghanistan, it has been doing the opposite.

It should be emphasized that the Taliban leaders have categorically stated that Afghanistan does not interfere in the Jammu and Kashmir issue and will not allow anti-India terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed to operate from their territories. In addition, the Taliban has refused to side with Pakistan on the latter's bid to enlist the TTP as a domestic issue for Islamabad.

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India has restarted its mission in Kabul to cater for the delivery of more than 500 thousand tons of wheat and 300 tons of critical medicines as humanitarian assistance, as well as resume the educational scholarships to Afghan students.

However, no country has officially recognized the Taliban regime so far, which explains the pragmatic and prudent approach of India to ensure the stability of Afghanistan and keep the country away from being a safe haven for anti-India elements once again.