India - Afghanistan: ‘Pragmatism is clearly the order of the day’
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
The Taliban regime has appointed an acting consul at the Afghan mission in Mumbai making it obvious that they are keen for diplomatic ties with India. It is understood the Taliban has appointed a long-term Afghan student in India, Ikramuddin Kamil, as its acting consul. He is a PhD from South Asia University, New Delhi.
India has been building bridges
The Tribune notes “New Delhi has not officially recognised the regime….but it has been building bridges with the rulers of a country with which it has had longstanding ties.” Two weeks ago, a delegation of India’s Ministry of External Affairs met the Taliban’s acting Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob in Kabul and discussed ways to expand bilateral relations. Humanitarian assistance and the potential use of the Chabahar port in Iran by the Afghan business community also figured in the talks.
The Pakistan and China factors
A key reason for the growing closeness between India and the Taliban “is the deterioration in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Border tensions soared in March this year…..Both Islamic nations have been accusing each other of aiding and abetting terrorism. The Taliban see India — which has itself been a victim of cross-border terrorism for decades — as an ally they can bank upon to counter Pakistan………”
Another important factor is the "Chinese outreach to the Taliban…..India does not want to be left behind in making its presence felt in the neighbourhood. It has realised that the Taliban are here to stay; a pragmatic approach, prioritising one’s strategic interests, is the way forward.”
India’s diplomatic shift
This development, writes Manvendra Singh (BJP leader, Editor-in-Chief of Defence & Security Alert) “follows an important visit to Kabul by the Ministry of External Affairs’ point person for Afghanistan. The official Indian delegation did all the diplomatic niceties in meeting the former President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, as well as the acting defence minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, also the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar. The very fact that Yaqoob met an official Indian delegation is enough to suggest a lot more.
“In the public domain is, of course, India’s offer for Afghan businesses to make use of the Chabahar Port in Iran, which has been developed with Indian investments. This offer truly turns the clock back since the India-Iran agreement over the port is in itself from the period where both countries were united in their opposition to the first Taliban regime, from 1996-2001……Pragmatism is clearly the order of the day, as it should well be.”
The five years of Taliban Part I, between 1996 and 2001, recalls Singh “were an aberration in terms of India-Afghanistan relations. Nothing existed between the two countries, which were long joined by history and culture. ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’, launched after the 11 September 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks, resulted in the fall of the Taliban, and a significant reawakening of relations between India and Afghanistan. The two decades of non-Taliban rule in Kabul saw enormous Indian participation in infrastructure and political developments across Afghanistan. But these were undertaken at serious risks as well….”
Despite setbacks, “India stayed its course of maintaining a presence in Afghanistan and continuing to invest in people……Many in Washington found it hard to bear that billions of dollars, along with the sacrifices of hundreds of brave soldiers, did not yield public perceptions commensurate with lesser Indian investments. This was because Indian monies were being spent on visible assets and institutions, without the jarring visuals and presence of overbearing soldiers in the villages and alleys of Afghanistan.”
There are regional dynamics, “which decide that come what may, New Delhi and Kabul will find common ground and interests if the prism of pragmatism is allowed to prevail. Taliban Part II has reached out to India, and the latter did well to respond with craftsmanship. But the Taliban has harmed Indian interests as well as friends earlier, so messaging loyalty to those must always remain paramount, even in the age of pragmatism.”
