India to make a ‘bold move’ on Afghanistan

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar speaks to the media, New Delhi. May 15, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI

A day after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a telephone conversation with the “acting Afghan Foreign Minister,” Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, officials in New Delhi asserted that India will undertake “bold moves” on Afghanistan and “do whatever is necessary” in the near future to establish stronger relations with the Taliban-ruled state. As part of that process, South Block will consider the possibility of extending humanitarian assistance to Afghan refugees who have been forcefully repatriated by Pakistan.

On Thursday (May 15, 2025), Mr. Jaishankar, in his conversation with Mr. Muttaqi, had indicated that India will also deepen direct humanitarian support to Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule since August 2021. Sources informed that some of the requirements of the Taliban administration had been under consideration in India and that Mr. Muttaqi had raised Afghanistan’s requirements with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri when the two met in Dubai on January 8, 2025. The Government of Pakistan, earlier this year under its ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’, repatriated 80,000 Afghans who were living in various locations in Pakistan, and the process is expected to continue.

The expulsion of Afghans who have been living in Pakistan for decades has emerged as a major issue between Kabul and Islamabad, as Pakistan has instructed all provinces that “illegal foreigners” should not be given houses or shops on rent in any part of the country.

Officials in New Delhi said that short of formal recognition, India will make a “bold move” on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and that New Delhi attached a “lot of significance” to the Jaishankar-Muttaqi conversation, as it came in the backdrop of Mr. Muttaqi’s upcoming visit to Iran and China next week. Mr. Muttaqi and Mr. Jaishankar had discussed cooperation with the Taliban to take advantage of the Chabahar port in Iran, which is acquiring greater importance as India has banned trade through the Pakistan border. India had cleared 160 Afghan trucks carrying dry fruits and nuts through Attari, but these vehicles remained stranded on the Pakistani side until Friday, when Pakistan allowed them to enter India.

The Taliban has described Mr. Muttaqi’s upcoming multi-nation visit as part of Afghanistan’s “active foreign policy,” which has been shaping Kabul’s “balanced” posture in South Asia. Officials in New Delhi indicated that India is willing to do “whatever is necessary” regarding the Taliban in the present context, which has been described as a “new normal” by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). India had friendly ties with the Afghanistan’s government of President Ashraf Ghani which was overthrown by the Taliban in a swift military advance in August 2021.

Upon the overthrow of the Ghani government, India had withdrawn officials from its embassy in Kabul and evacuated its missions in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. However, over the last two years, New Delhi has steadily increased exchanges with Taliban representatives. Since 2021, India has sent 50,000 tonnes of wheat, 350 tonnes of medicines, 40,000 litres of Malathion fertiliser, and 28 tonnes of relief material to Afghanistan, including aid sent after the 2023 Herat earthquake.

Despite the growing interactions, India has not granted the Taliban formal recognition, mainly because of the Taliban’s human rights record, particularly concerning the continued closure of schools for girls and restrictions preventing women from returning to government jobs. While India has gradually allowed Taliban-appointed individuals to take over Afghan missions in Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, India’s consular work in Afghanistan also continues to remain below its full potential, as India has not reopened its consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif, and the embassy in Kabul is being led by a technical team which took charge of the mission on June 23, 2022.

Sources in New Delhi described Mr. Muttaqi’s phone call to Mr. Jaishankar as “bold posturing” by Kabul, as it was preceded by the Taliban’s strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 and the outfit’s growing confilct with Pakistan. Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Muttaqi have agreed to stay in touch, and it is understood that several upgrades in the bilateral realm may follow in the near future.