Ties with Taliban: India risks losing trust of Afghan people

As a former deputy ambassador of Afghanistan to India, where I spent three memorable and productive years enhancing Indo-Afghan ties, it recently pained us to see a senior Indian diplomat smiling, shaking hands, and meeting with leaders of a terrorist group in Kabul. Most former Afghan government officials remember him as he was posted in Kabul from 2008 to 2011.

He has been a key figure in India’s diplomacy in Afghanistan. During his tenure in Kabul, he regularly met with senior civilian, security, and military officials of the Afghan government, tirelessly advocating for the signing of the “Agreement on Strategic Partnership between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan”.

The Afghan people, best characterized in "Kabuliwala," a short story by Tagore, generally listened to and trusted the diplomats of India. They emphasized that, beyond our shared civilizational ties and values, we are united in our resolve to combat all manifestations of terrorism and extremism without distinction.

For years, whether under the leadership of the Congress or the BJP, this line had been one of the principal talking points of the Indian government. Many Afghans bought into this promise, which underpinned the decision by the Islamic Republic government under former President Hamid Karzai to sign the Agreement with India on October 4, 2011.

“Security cooperation between the Sides is intended to help enhance their respective and mutual efforts in the fight against international terrorism, organized crime, illegal trafficking in narcotics, money laundering, and so on,” promised the Agreement. But the Taliban and Haqqani Network, operating a deadly terror campaign across Afghanistan, immediately reacted to the signing of the Agreement.

In the weeks, months, and years that followed the signing of the Agreement, thousands of innocent Afghans paid for it with their lives, making an ultimate sacrifice ordinary Afghans made for friendship with India. No one knows this better than the diplomats of India. However, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hardly acknowledged this unforgettable sacrifice by the Afghans.

Having gradually lost the favorite nation status that India once enjoyed among Afghans before 2021, the current situation could be described as "missing the forest for the trees." It appears that New Delhi is engaging tactically with the Taliban.

However, India's strategic community should be reminded that these tactical gains come at a strategic cost—specifically, the loss of trust from the Afghan people, which India had built over decades before 2021. This situation echoes India's experience with the Bangladeshi people, whom India often overlooked or allowed to be oppressed. This neglect ultimately led to a surprising turn of events for India on August 5, 2024.

As the world’s largest democracy, India has a moral obligation to avoid deepening ties with the Taliban, a brutal totalitarian regime that terrorizes the Afghan people and enforces gender apartheid. This UN-sanctioned militant group also shelters over 20 regional and transnational terrorist organizations, some of which consider India a target for jihad.

The Taliban leaders are responsible for the 2008 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, which killed 58 innocent people and injured 141 others. India must carefully consider the consequences of engaging with terrorists and must refrain from betraying the Afghan people in their struggle to reclaim democracy and freedom.

(The writer is Afghanistan’s former ambassador to Sri Lanka and deputy ambassador to India and the United States. The article reflects the personal views of the writer)