Editorial: Cautious engagement

Pragmatism, caution and national interests must guide India's new strategy while engaging with the Taliban

By publicly acknowledging its engagement with the Taliban leadership, India has attempted a first major recalibration of its policy in tune with the changing geopolitics of the region. Pragmatism, caution and national interests must guide the new strategy whose immediate objective is to ensure safety, security and early return of the Indians stranded in the war-ravaged country. Opening communication channels with the Taliban amounts to a major departure from the earlier stand that viewed the radical Islamist group as a proxy of Pakistan and an associate of terrorist groups targeting India. There are also indications of a change in mood in Afghanistan with the Taliban extending an olive branch, calling for continuation of friendly ties with New Delhi, acknowledging the importance of India in the region and emphasising the economic, historic and cultural linkages. The recent resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), under India’s presidency, virtually amounted to recognising the new regime when it sought assurances that the Afghan territory should not be used to threaten any country or shelter terrorists and voiced an expectation that the Taliban will adhere to commitments made by it regarding the safe and orderly departure from the country of Afghans and all foreign nationals. Given the changed realities on the ground and the fact that the world is slowly preparing to do business with the new regime, India too must take one step at a time towards normalisation of relations.

India must make it clear to the Taliban that it would normalise ties only after assurance that Afghan soil will not be used for promoting terrorism. There is also a need to ensure continuity in terms of the development projects under way in Afghanistan. India had earned immense public goodwill because of a wide range of infrastructure projects, including dams, bridges, roads and power transmission lines bringing electricity to Kabul, and the impressive parliament building in the capital. The possibilities of cooperation in developing educational facilities and agricultural production and industrial cooperation can be explored in future once the priorities of the new regime become clear. Obviously, India is concerned over the possible impact of the massive cache of arms, ammunition, helicopter gunships and other aircraft supplied by the US to Afghanistan, which are now in the possession of the Taliban. It must be ensured that these weapons do not get into the hands of jihadis of the Haqqani Network, patronised and nurtured by Pakistan, operating against India. The imprint of the Pakistani ISI in Afghanistan is too evident to ignore. While engaging with the Taliban leadership, India must remain cautious till it receives categorical and verifiable assurances that Afghan soil and weapons will not be used to promote terrorism in India.

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