LONDON: According to a report from the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), Britain’s leading defense think tank, it appears that both India and the Taliban in Afghanistan are eager to establish trust and improve relations with one another.
There are three main reasons why the Taliban are generally eager to develop good relations with India and the outside world, according to the report “Strategic Survey 2022, The Annual Assessment of Geopolitics,” which examines regional South Asian politics until the end of the year.
According to the report, First, they hope that close political and economic ties will attract investment from abroad, boost regional trade, and generate much-needed revenue for the government. Second, the Taliban want to put an end to any challenge to their rule. In particular, they don’t want any regional player to give Afghans who are against their regime military and financial support, as India, Iran, and Russia did in the 1990s. Thirdly, the Taliban also hope that the country will receive aid for development and humanitarian needs if it is recognized by and has good relations with the outside world, particularly Western donor nations and organizations. The Taliban government has argued that it has met all of the requirements for diplomatic recognition, and it has repeatedly asked the international community to do so.
According to the report, the neighbors of the Taliban have accepted and acknowledged diplomats appointed by the Taliban government; however, this has not assisted the Taliban internationally, and the Taliban government is aware of this.
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It adds: ” Before indications began to emerge that it wanted to engage with the Taliban in a variety of ways, India, a major player in the region, initially maintained its distance. The first Indian delegation to visit Kabul since the Taliban took control was led by a joint secretary of the Indian ministry of external affairs at the beginning of June. The foreign minister, deputy foreign minister, and other government officials from the Taliban government were met by senior Indian diplomats. This was the most undeniable level of gathering between the different sides since the rise of the Taliban development in 1994.
“It was anticipated that these discussions would open the way for India to resume a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan, which had been suspended following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August. India’s Ministry of External Affairs released a statement on June 23 announcing that the country had sent a “technical team” to its embassy in Kabul “to closely monitor and coordinate” the delivery of humanitarian aid.
According to the defense analysis, Pakistan has been a major supporter of the Taliban, but it has not recognized the Taliban regime because three issues dominate Pakistan and the world.
“First and foremost, foreign governments want the Taliban government to stop collaborating with and providing support to transnational violent extremist groups, and most importantly, to stop them from using Afghan territory to pose a threat to their national security. Various nations are concerned about various such groups. It is ISIS and al-Qaeda for the United States and the West as a whole; For China, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is primarily responsible; The TTP is primarily responsible for Pakistan; It primarily consists of ISIS/ISIS–KP for Iran, Central Asian nations, and Russia; Al-Qaeda is also involved for India, as are regional organizations like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Kashmir.
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The report says that the Taliban have more than once underscored that, as illustrated in the Doha bargain, they won’t permit any individual or gathering to involve An afghan area as a base for threats against another country. ” However, concerns have been expressed regarding their commitment to keeping their promises. On the one hand, the Taliban have maintained relationships with so-called “friendly” organizations like al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban’s Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), but they have not taken any meaningful or obvious action against them. On the other hand, they have been fighting the extremist militant group known as Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS–KP), which primarily operates in the Afghanistan–Pakistan region.
Senior Fellow for South and Central Asian Defense, Strategy, and Diplomacy Rahul Roy-Chaudhury made the following observation: After the Afghan Taliban came to power over a year ago, India’s previous policy toward them has dynamically changed. India is now interacting with them in Kabul, despite the lack of diplomatic recognition, after initially refusing to do business with them and labeling them “terrorists.”
“This is a pragmatic policy that is based on ensuring that the people of Afghanistan receive humanitarian aid. In any case, it additionally represents India’s ‘no leave strategy’ from Afghanistan. For the first time, wheat was transported by land from India to Afghanistan via Pakistan. India and Pakistan are naturally concerned about Afghanistan’s stability under the Taliban regime. The resumption of Confidence Building Measures (CBM) between India and Pakistan, which include people-to-people contacts, the exchange of media visits, and trade measures, appear to be practical policy options to manage their bilateral relations until both sides are prepared for deeper engagement and the resumption of an official bilateral dialogue. This is in light of the different political situations in both countries and their preoccupation with domestic priorities.
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Report Originally Published on Geo News
