Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/LONDON: Afghan Taliban are eager to develop and further bilateral ties with India, the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), Britain’s leading defence think-tank, said in a report.
The report titled “Strategic Survey 2022-The Annual Assessment of Geopolitics”, said there were three main reasons why the Taliban were keen to develop good ties with India and the international community.
Bilateral ties
The report said: Firstly, they (Taliban) hope that close economic and political relations will bring foreign investment, raise regional trade, and thus much-needed revenues.
Secondly, it said the Taliban want to neutralize any threat to their law. Taliban do not want any regional player to provide military and financial support to Afghans opposing their regime, as Iran, India, and Russia did in the 1990s.
Thirdly, the report said, the Taliban also hope that their recognition and good relations with the world, especially the West and donor organizations, will bring humanitarian funds and developmental assistance to the country.
The Taliban have repeatedly asked the global community to grant it diplomatic recognition, arguing that it has fulfilled all the standards for this.
The report said that India, a major player in the region, initially kept a distance before signs began to emerge that it wanted to engage with the Taliban in various ways.
In early June, an Indian contingent led by a joint secretary of its ministry of external affairs visited Kabul, the first such visit by Indian authorities since the Taliban’s takeover.
Senior Indian officials met with the Taliban foreign minister, the deputy foreign minister, and other top leaders. This was the most high-level meeting between the two countries since the Taliban’s second takeover.
These discussions have been expected to pave the way for India to resume its diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that New Delhi had deployed a technical team to its embassy in Kabul to monitor and coordinate for the delivery of humanitarian assistance closely.
Defence analyst view
South and Central Asian Defence analyst Rahul Roy-Chaudhury said India has dynamically reversed its previous policy towards the Afghan Taliban after they came to power over a year ago. “From refusing to deal with them and calling them ‘terrorists,’ the India government is now engaging with them in Kabul, although this remains short of diplomatic recognition,” he said.
