Afghanistan is strategically central to India’s West-Asia–Central-Asia outreach, energy access and counter-terrorism imperatives. After the Taliban takeover in August 2021, New Delhi adopted a pragmatic, people-centric engagement, providing humanitarian aid, limited diplomatic contacts and regional dialogue while not extending formal recognition.
India’s post-2021 approach
- Humanitarian diplomacy: India has supplied significant food and medical assistance (tens of thousands of tonnes of wheat through Chabahar and other routes; vaccine consignments including 500,000 COVID vaccine doses; medical aid).
- Maintaining presence: Reopening a technical mission in Kabul (June 2022) to oversee assistance signalled continuity of engagement.
- Protecting projects & soft power: India’s earlier investments amounts to US$3 billion in 500+ projects across projects such as Salma/Indo-Afghan Dam, Afghan Parliament, Zaranj–Delaram highway. India also offered scholarships and training to 1,000+ scholarships with thousands trained under ITEC.
- Multilateral/ regional engagement: India uses formats such as the Moscow Format, SCO contact group and UN channels to coordinate policies toward Afghanistan.
- Security vigilance: India has emphasised intelligence cooperation and monitoring to counter threats from groups such as LeT, JeM and ISKP.
Limitations of India’s approach:
- Terrorist sanctuaries: UN and UNODC findings point to presence of anti-India groups and Afghanistan remains the source of 80% of global opium which raises internal security and terror funding concerns.
- Limited leverage: Many Indian projects lie stalled; without state recognition India has limited leverage to restart large development works or protect investments.
- Geopolitical inroads by rivals: China and Pakistan are deepening economic and political ties with the Taliban (mineral deals, influence), narrowing India’s strategic space.
- Moral dilemma: Engagement risks being seen as pragmatic legitimisation of an undemocratic regime, particularly over rights of women and minorities.
Balancing security & connectivity needs with being a responsible power:
Pragmatic conditionality:
- Maintain humanitarian aid, technical assistance and scholarships while refusing formal recognition until clear progress on counter-terrorism and human rights is visible.
- Use aid as leverage to secure commitments on terror non-proliferation and women’s access to education.
Prioritising security:
- Strengthen intelligence sharing with Iran, Russia, Central Asian states and friendly Afghan actors; deepen cooperation in SCO, Moscow Format and UN on counter-terrorism.
- Enhance border surveillance, CBMs and anti-narcotics collaboration with UNODC and regional partners to choke illicit finance flows.
Advance alternative options
- Fast-track Chabahar–Zaranj operationalisation and ensure Zaranj-Delaram highway maintenance to connect India to Afghanistan/Central Asia bypassing Pakistan.
- Use air corridors, Dubai-based trade hubs and maritime logistics to restart limited legal trade (dry fruits, saffron, pharma) under transparent, sanction-compliant mechanisms.
- Promote private-sector, diaspora and multilateral investments with strong due-diligence and BIT safeguards.
Leverage multilateral platforms: Work through UN, WTO, SCO, Heart of Asia to build consensus on counterterrorism, humanitarian access and reconstruction financing conditions. This distributes political risk and builds legitimacy.
Contingency planning: Maintain contingency evacuation & security protocols for Indian nationals.
Conclusion: To reconcile security and connectivity imperatives with responsibilities as a regional power, New Delhi must pursue calibrated engagement: combine targeted humanitarian and development assistance with robust counter-terror cooperation, diversified connectivity through Chabahar and air corridors, multilateral burden-sharing, and principled advocacy for inclusion and rights.
+1 Value Addition
Ø India’s development spend (post-2001) constitutes US$3 billion across 500+ projects.
Ø India supplied 50,000 tonnes of wheat plus medical consignments via Chabahar and other routes.
- 15,000 Afghan students study/ trained in India over pre-/post-2021 cohorts.
- Afghanistan supplies 80% of global opium, a major driver of cross-border drug trafficking into India.
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