By Adhikshita Vishnoi,聽91探花
Abstract
India and Afghanistan share a history of cultural, historic, and strategic ties. Both nations share a diverse history of bilateral relations and regional collaboration. The paper looks into the evolving nature of rising powers in South Asia and how India and Afghanistan can collaborate. The paper tries to find out how the IMEC can open up new possibilities for collaboration between the countries. What are some challenges and opportunities that arise with the development of the collaboration between diplomatic ties of the nations? The paper tries to analyze the present and future possibilities of trade and collaboration between Afghanistan and India using secondary sources. The paper delves deep into how India deals with the Taliban government in Afghanistan and tries to balance the global expectations as well as regional aspirations. The paper shows how the possible development of the IMEC could indeed strengthen the ties between India and Afghanistan and lead to better collaboration.
Introduction and evolution of bilateral engagement between Afghanistan and India
India and Afghanistan share a long history of cultural, historic, and strategic ties. Over the past two decades, the diplomatic relationship between the countries has developed further and evolved as their governing rulers change with time. Diplomatic engagement, economic ties, security and intelligence collaboration, and people-to-people connections have all strengthened in the past few years.
The history of the modern-day ties between India and Afghanistan can be traced back to the year 2001, when the Taliban regime broke down. In 1990, India, like other nations, did not recognize the Taliban. In the year 2021, with the return of the Taliban regime after the United States鈥� troops exited Afghanistan, India re-established its ties with the Taliban. While India does not formally recognize the Taliban regime and rule in Afghanistan, it establishes ties in terms of collaboration, trade, and humanitarian work. From a constructivist point of view, it may be seen as an attempt by India to deal with the existing regime. As the constructivist theorist Alexander Wendt also explains in his work 鈥楢narchy Is What States Make of It,鈥� anarchy is present in the current international order. (Wendt 1992) States can either see this culture of anarchy in the Hobbesian manner, where they are constantly in a state of potential conflict. Which, in Afghanistan鈥檚 case, could be countries of the global north, such as the United States, causing an instability in the rule. In the Lockean viewpoint, Pakistan may view Afghanistan as a rival, but may execute trade and cooperate occasionally as well. (Pakistan Announces to Upgrade Ties With Afghanistan, Appoint Ambassador to Kabul 2025) In the Kantian viewpoint, in which states view each other as partners and engage in collective security and peaceful resolution of disputes, Afghanistan and India have tried to collaborate in order to establish peace in South Asia. Diplomatic relations with the democratic government in Afghanistan were established, and a new chapter started in India-Afghanistan relations. India became a partner in the reconstruction of infrastructure, health, and education. Establishing ties with Afghanistan also increases India鈥檚 reach in South Asia and the Middle East. While establishing ties may have meant an increase in presence, there have been some contentions by the global order concerning India engaging with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Although the relationship between India and Afghanistan has been multifaceted. Even in the present, India began its conversation with the Taliban recently this year. Strategically, Afghanistan can collaborate with India on the issue of cross-border terrorism that India faces from its bordering nations. On the humanitarian aspect, India had helped Afghanistan during the COVID-19 Pandemic and had supplied it with 1 Lakh Paracetamol tablets and tons of wheat. Establishing ties with Afghanistan indeed makes the South Asian region more stable.
Collaboration between India and Afghanistan
In 2016, India invested in Chabahar Port, which is situated in the southeastern part of Iran and connects with Central Asia and Afghanistan. The port helps India bypass Pakistan and enables trade with the Central Asian region. This project, contrary to China鈥檚 BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) in the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor), does not function on a model of debt diplomacy wherein infrastructure is built on debt, yet indeed focuses on increasing regional connectivity and development. India鈥檚 support for Afghanistan has been constant even with the regime changes. India aims to connect the Chabahar port with the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal route that connects India to Russia via Iran and Central Asia. If this can be connected successfully, the cost of trade would significantly reduce. The Chabahar port has also been connected with multilateral forums such as the SCO and the BRICS. Iran has also entered these forums currently. What this may lead to is an increase in regional trade by ensuring stability in supply chains and also unlocking new streams for collaboration and trade. (Jahanzeeb 2025)
Recently this year, on May 15, 2025, the External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, spoke to Amir Khan Muttaqi, the 鈥淎cting Afghan Foreign Minister,鈥� marking it as the first minister-level outreach to Afghanistan after the takeover of the Taliban. (Bhattacherjee 2025) The telephone conversation was initiated days after the Pahalgam attack. Jaishankar thanked Afghanistan鈥檚 Minister, Muttaqi, for condemning the terror attack that took place in Pahalgam. (Vashistha 2025) This showed support from the recent rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan and their support towards the anti-terrorism cause of India. The engagement also showcases a shift in how India鈥檚 foreign policy decides to deal with the Taliban and Afghanistan. While earlier there was no interaction with the government of the Taliban, this may begin a trend of conversation and collaboration that is in the national interest of both nations. (Ghosh 2025)
IMEC: Weaving a new thread of connectivity, yet with challenges
With the strengthening of the ties, what future opportunities emerge is something that India can explore. Be it the collaboration towards combatting terrorism or be it towards building connectivity through the IMEC. The IMEC is the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, which is a project to connect India to the Gulf and the Gulf to Europe. A challenge that the idea faces is the instability in the Middle East to execute the development of infrastructure. What good is developing infrastructure only to have it destroyed by a weapon? However, if the project can be executed, it would certainly increase connectivity with Afghanistan. The proximity to Afghanistan and its trade channels would decrease. The collaboration with Chabahar Port and the IMEC can help cut down the cost of trade and also make trade more sustainable in the region. The IMEC can focus on capacity building and facilitating trade to Afghanistan in return for collaboration on security. This would also reduce the dependency of Afghanistan on China and Pakistan for trade connectivity. The engagement with Afghanistan can be seen as a double-edged sword. On one hand, the engagement with Afghanistan can curb the use of Afghanistan鈥檚 territory for terrorism against India, and on the other hand, the radicalization in Afghanistan further threatens the security of South Asia by the spread of radicalization.
Some possible challenges that emerge with the collaboration of India and Afghanistan can be seen as the lack of recognition of the Taliban government, but this is dealt with by focusing on the trade collaboration rather than recognition. Also, India would not appreciate Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for terrorists against India, such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba and even the presence of terrorist groups like Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Al-Qaeda. Hence, India can not completely put its guard down while dealing with Afghanistan. The engagement with Afghanistan may get backlash from the international community and also international forums, as Afghanistan lags in providing rights to women. To deal with these challenges, India can engage with Afghanistan strategically, focusing more on trade and development. (Pratap 2025)
Amongst the challenges, the opportunities that emerge through the connection of the IMEC overpower the challenges. Collaboration in terms of security, through which
India鈥檚 interest in collaborating with Afghanistan also emerges from the desire to counter China鈥檚 rise and Pakistan鈥檚 anti-India terrorism. The rise of anti-Pakistani groups such as the Baloch Militants and the TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) is something that may give India some leverage against terrorism emerging from Pakistan as well.
Conclusion
India and Afghanistan have shared a long thread of history. Both nations in South Asia deal with their own set of challenges but collaborate on some common goals. The collaboration has increased with the collective stance on India鈥檚 anti-terrorist stance. While IMEC may emerge as a trade route, the significance of the Indian-Afghanistan partnership in trade and development is bound to increase as well. India sustains a pragmatic approach to dealing with Afghanistan and the Taliban, balancing the immediate security concerns and the border implications for the regional security dynamics in South Asia with strategic calculations. In conclusion, while challenges and issues do persist between the evolving collaboration between both countries, interaction may lead to better collaboration, regional stability, and the possibility of collective development and security in South Asia.
References
Bhattacherjee, Kallol. 2025. 鈥淚n a first, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar talks to Taliban鈥檚 acting Foreign Minister Muttaqi.鈥� The Hindu, May 16, 2025, -.
Ghosh, Dr. Anwesha. 2025. 鈥淏reaking the Ice: India鈥檚 First Ministerial Engagement with the Taliban.鈥� Indian Council of World Affairs. https://www.icwa.in/show_content.php?lang=1&level=3&ls_id=12941&lid=7908#_edn21.
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