India’s recent outreach to the Taliban is a part of a deeper shift in Indian foreign policy and statecraft.
In the Indian context, this assertion seems to have been making inroads in recent days if New Delhi’s outreach to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan is used as a reference point. Indian statecraft has historically considered morality to be an integral element of its conduct with other nations, but in recent months, the intensification of India’s contacts with the Taliban signifies that India is prioritizing its national interests over everything else.
In that context, the visits of the Taliban foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and the commerce and industry minister Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi assume high importance. But the need of the hour is to examine why New Delhi is courting a group that doesn’t have a very rosy track record on human rights.
Countering Hegemony
The United States of America, which invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under Operation Enduring Freedom, ended up altering the history of the country permanently. Carried out under the ostensible pretext of weeding out the sponsors of global terrorism, the U.S., which sought to put an end to the Taliban regime and Al-Qaeda*, ended up devastating the country and its future generations.
The Americans withdrew from the country in August 2021, leaving behind a country in perpetual chaos, underdeveloped human capital, and a population teetering on the brink of multiple humanitarian crises. It is in that regard that India, which has a glorious history of opposing imperialism and neo-colonialism of the West after her independence through the Non-Aligned Movement, felt that in order for her cherished policy of strategic autonomy to maximize its options, India needs to make an outreach to the Taliban.
India has very strongly felt that it cannot allow Afghanistan, which is in India’s backyard, to become a tool in the hands of the Americans, who seek to regain their strategic depth once again. This was evident from the fact that India, among other countries, recently opposed the U.S. administration’s demand for the return of the Bagram airbase—the largest military base in Afghanistan.
Further, any American presence, whether overt or covert, is a recipe for foreign interference in the internal affairs of India.
Financial Considerations
Among the countries of South Asia, India is the largest trading partner of Afghanistan. Not only is India a key destination for Afghan commodities, but India also has high stakes in the Afghan development story. On a cumulative basis, India has invested more than $3 billion in the Afghan economy. In his book My Enemy’s Enemy: India in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the US Withdrawal, the academic Avinash Paliwal gave a detailed description of the Indo-Afghan commercial relationship, highlighting how India has emerged as one of the biggest investors in the Afghan economy. The Salma Dam, the Zaranj-Delaram highway, the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, among others, are some of the flagship projects that have been developed out of India’s aid to the people of Afghanistan and which serve as a testimony to India’s commitment to Afghan welfare.
India’s deepening of contacts with the Taliban regime, therefore, must be read as a strategic action on the part of India to not only protect her investments but also to ensure that the ultimate recipients of India’s financial largesse are the ordinary masses of Afghanistan.
Utilization of Mineral Wealth
India’s outreach to the Taliban movement is also driven by realpolitik considerations—Afghanistan is a treasure trove of mineral wealth. Sitting on potential reserves of over $1 trillion, Afghanistan could very well become the centre of a new great game among the great powers in the near future. Hence, at a time when maintaining the upper hand in frontier technologies such as biotechnology, AI, space, robotics, green energy has emerged as the sine qua non of becoming a superpower, India cannot afford to miss the bus. With the potential prospect of a friendly regime in Kabul, India can position itself as one of the early countries that can utilize Afghanistan’s mineral resources in order to accelerate the development of her frontier technology sectors.
Hence, at a time when the rest of the world has turned its back on Afghanistan, by stepping up engagement with the Taliban regime, India is ensuring that its national interests are firmly taken care of.
*organization, banned in Russia
Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India
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