India holds highest-level talks with Taliban over security concerns, trade and aid

Previously, India has only sent officials at the joint secretary level to Kabul to engage with the former militant group which now holds power in Afghanistan

India discussed diplomatic relations, security concerns, and humanitarian aid with Afghanistan at its highest-level talks with the Taliban on Wednesday in Dubai.

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri met with the group’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi as the two sides discussed expanding bilateral ties, with an increased focus on India’s security concerns, boost in trade through the Chabahar Port in Iran, and Indian investments in several development projects inside Afghanistan.

“Today, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had a meeting with the acting foreign minister of Afghanistan, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Dubai. The two sides discussed various issues pertaining to bilateral relations as well as regional developments,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Previously, India has only sent officials at the joint secretary level to Kabul to engage with the former militant group which now holds power in Afghanistan. However, Wednesday’s engagement of delegations from both sides marked India’s first ever such high-level talks with the Taliban leaders since the collapse of the Nato-led administration in Afghanistan in August 2021.

“The Afghan side underlined its sensitivities to India’s security concerns,” the Indian foreign ministry said, adding that New Delhi and Kabul have agreed to “remain in touch and continue regular contacts at various levels”.

India will now also be considering engaging in development projects in Afghanistan.

“Foreign secretary underlined India’s historic friendship with the Afghan people and the strong people to people contacts between the two countries. In this context, he conveyed India’s readiness to respond to the urgent developmental needs of the Afghan people,” the statement read.

Additionally, Delhi has also pledged a fresh tranche of humanitarian aid to the war-battered country.

According to the foreign ministry, India has so far dispatched several shipments consisting of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat, 300 tonnes of medicines, 27 tonnes of earthquake relief aid, 40,000 litres of pesticides, 100 million polio doses, 1.5 million doses of COVID Vaccine, 11,000 units of hygiene kits for the drug de-addiction programme, 500 units of winter clothing and 1.2 tonnes of stationery kits among other aid.

Shortly after, the Taliban called India its “significant regional and economic partner”, marking its growing alliance with the nuclear-capable Asian capital. Upon signing projects, India will join the ranks of China and Russia in aiding development projects on Afghan soil.

"In line with Afghanistan’s balanced and economy-focused foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate aims to strengthen political and economic ties with India as a significant regional and economic partner," the statement from Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said.

The Taliban-run regime in Afghanistan is seeking international recognition but is denied so far due to its harsh edicts banning the education and work of girls and women.

No foreign government, including India, officially recognises the Taliban administration. India has a small “technical mission” in Kabul to engage the regional partner in trade, aid and medical support and has sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Experts have said that by extending a diplomatic hand, India is covering the long and short of its requirements to sustain ties with Afghanistan as it befits New Delhi’s policy in the wake of realisation around the world that Taliban is here to stay for good or for bad.

Amar Sinha, the former Indian ambassador to Afghanistan said: “India is covering at least the developmental security aspects, the humanitarian aspects of the relationship, much more than the political. India’s policy, if you look back also, has been guided by this basic thought that India has always stood behind the regimes in Kabul.”

India also conveyed its security concerns against Isis and several other terror groups to the current leaders of Afghanistan.

“We have to first stop many terror groups that can fish in troubled water and establish their training centres in Afghan territory, as it used to happen in the past. When we say India security concerns, we are mainly looking at the anti-India terror groups that are probably in the region and could be emboldened in the coming days,” he told The Independent.

“We also need to coordinate with them to keep an eye on how the ISKP (Islamic State of Khorasan Province) is evolving because that also is a potential threat. From India’s perspective, it is important that the weapons left behind by Americans don’t fall in the wrong hands,” he added.