New Delhi’s decision to reopen its embassy in Kabul has come as a security-cum-diplomatic challenge for Islamabad. The inching of Taliban 2.0 towards India and the cordiality in the making will also have long-term geopolitical ramifications. The debut visit of Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India signals the redrawing of regional priorities at a time when the region is in a state of flux, and both the countries had nursed severe grievances against each other in the last few years.
India, nonetheless, had set up a ‘technical’ mission in Afghanistan, a year after Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021. The unanimity exhibited during Muttaqi’s visit to broaden the agenda of cooperation and Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s remarks that “Afghanistan is a contiguous neighbour” signal the hegemonic designs in the grab of bilateralism.
It is a pity that Kabul has not been responsive and grateful to gestures of goodwill from Islamabad. The onus was on the Taliban dispensation to act against the terror elements holed up in Afghanistan, but they opted to look the other way. And now the Taliban rubbing shoulders with India has reasons rooted in extra-territorial designs as both sides have ulterior designs on Pakistan’s landmass and have a history of interference through abettors and non-state actors.
The fact that India, being a champion of democracy and civil rights, outright ignored the absence of pluralism and inclusivity in the regime in vogue in Kabul and moved on to galvanise its relationship poses questions on its nefarious interests in the region. This new patch-up between Taliban 2.0 and the Hindutva regimes certainly comes as a security challenge on our turbulent, terror-infested western frontiers.
As Pakistan has always extended an olive branch to its adversaries, be it India or Afghanistan, and sought relations on mutual respect and cordiality, it’s time to give diplomacy another chance and talk it out with Afghan Taliban authorities for a quid pro quo, entailing cooperation in counterterrorism and ensuring serenity of ties.
