India-Afghanistan Ties: Decades of people-to-people, historical and cultural ties between India and Afghanistan came crashing down on November 23, 2023, when the Afghanistan Embassy that was hitherto being run under the diplomatic staff appointed by the previous government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced that it is finally shutting down operations after more than two years of the Taliban takeover of that country. The embassy, which once hosted several Indian dignitaries and top echelons of the political class, now bears a desolate look with life-sized images of Ghani still adorning its walls.
While such a development seemed inevitable after the Taliban marched inside the Afghan capital of Kabul on August 15, 2021, the way the embassy shutdown happened has thrown several questions to the Indian government, which always prided itself in being a friend of Afghanistan despite the country’s tumultuous history. However, matters turned ugly this time even as the diplomatic staff of the former Afghan democratic government accused India of cooperating with Taliban-appointed and affiliated diplomats — a huge charge against New Delhi, which has chosen to maintain radio silence in this matter.
From the establishment of the Treaty of Friendship in 1950 between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Nadjibullah to the signing of Agreement of Strategic Partnership in 2011 between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Kabul has faced innumerable ups and downs. Despite Pakistan playing the role of a disruptor, India and Afghanistan have maintained strong neighbourly ties for decades. Till August 2021, India was the most favoured destination for Afghan students and politicians who viewed the country not only as an epitome of democracy but a country where Afghans were welcome with open arms. Rabindranath Tagore’s famous short story, Kabuliwallah, although a work of fiction, shows how close Indians and Afghans have been since time immemorial.
But everything has changed today. The number of Afghan refugees has rapidly fallen since August 2021 when India suddenly changed its visa policy and revoked all valid visas that did not let tens and thousands of Afghan students pursue higher education in India. Not just that, even those Afghans living across the country as refugees and those who made India their home due to the relentless war in their country, have been forced to leave the country. According to a former Afghan diplomat who has served in India for many years, now living in the US, tells me that Afghans have never felt so isolated by India. He said while historically Afghans have sought refuge in Pakistan and other countries, India was their “dream destination” where they knew they would find peace.
ALSO READ | Afghanistan Embassy Alleges ‘Inconsiderate Conduct’ By MEA, Delhi Blames It On Envoy’s Long Absence, Infighting
What Exactly Is India’s Current Afghanistan Policy?
Politically, India has always supported the Afghan republic and forces that have resisted the Taliban. This is the first time in the history of India-Afghanistan ties that New Delhi is seen to be listening to the directives of the Taliban regime in Kabul.
When the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, India was caught napping even as New Delhi continued to depend on Ghani, who before anyone knew had fled to another country with a stash of money. The Narendra Modi government kept thinking there will be some miracle and Afghanistan will be back on track. Not surprisingly, the Embassy of India in Afghanistan was one of the last ones to shut down, directing the diplomatic staff to come back to the country with bare essentials. Some of the journalists, like myself, who had gone to Afghanistan to cover the events were forced to come back without our luggage, which is likely lying in some corner of the Indian embassy.
While India did reopen its embassy in Kabul in June 2022, it has done nothing at all to further the relationship, except for providing humanitarian aid. On the contrary, ties have only deteriorated. Even some of the big-ticket infrastructure development projects that were meant to rebuild Afghanistan after the US’ 20-year-long war there, continue to remain stalled even as Indian taxpayers’ money continues to remain stuck there. It was the same India that had halted ties with Afghanistan when the Taliban was in power there the last time from September 27, 1996 till November 16, 2001. India has always shared strong ties with Afghanistan, which it still considers its immediate neighbour due to the small stretch of border it shares with the country along the Wakhan Corridor, even though that portion now lies in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi has not officially recognised.
New Delhi has been supportive of almost all the regimes that have come to power in Kabul starting from King Zahir Shah till former President Ghani. India had even recognised the erstwhile Soviet-backed government that was installed in Kabul. New Delhi has always staunchly followed a neutral policy as long as the government in Kabul is not opposed to India’s interest there. As relations with Afghanistan grew stronger, India opened consulates in Jalalabad, Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. Reciprocally, Afghanistan opened its consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
In a strongly-worded note verbale, former Afghan Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay said he had to close the embassy in India due to “lack of anticipated diplomatic support and the sudden, unforeseen backing and the de facto recognition of Taliban by New Delhi since June 2022, which has significantly impacted the diplomatic landscape”. Despite such strong words, the Ministry of External Affairs has chosen to remain silent while reiterating that the closing down is an outcome of “internal conflict” between the Afghan diplomats and their foreign ministry, now under Taliban rule.
India Should Break Silence
So why exactly is India silent on this issue is the question. What will be India's future policy towards Afghanistan? There is Pakistan in between, which is now having a major conflict with the Taliban dispensation — something that New Delhi sees as a boon in disguise. Meanwhile, the Taliban’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai told a state-run television in Afghanistan that they will soon re-open the embassy in New Delhi while their consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad are in regular touch with the foreign ministry in Kabul for consular services.
In a recent interview to ABP LIVE, former top CIA official Lisa Curtis, who was involved in the peace deal that was signed between the US and the Taliban, said: “It is important for India, for the United States, for all countries to remain engaged with other Afghan voices and not just the Taliban. The Taliban did not come to power through an election, it forced its way into the country. Most Afghans don’t support the Taliban and there are other voices that do represent the Afghan people and many of them are out of Afghanistan now. It’s important to remain engaged with them.”
India cannot afford to remain silent after the statement given by Stanekzai. It will do more harm to India’s foreign policy than good if it chooses to deal with the Taliban in a clandestine manner. The United States, which was one of the first western countries, to shut down the Afghanistan Embassy in Washington had also issued a statement on taking such a stance. The Indian public also needs to know if New Delhi is indeed indirectly doing business with the Taliban and how will it justify dealings with the Islamist fundamentalist group when it follows a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism, based on which New Delhi has stopped all dialogues with Islamabad.
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP Network Pvt. Ltd.]
India Needs To Come Clear On Taliban. Afghanistan Plan Looks Messed Up
7
0
30.11.2023
India-Afghanistan Ties: Decades of people-to-people, historical and cultural ties between India and Afghanistan came crashing down on November 23, 2023, when the Afghanistan Embassy that was hitherto being run under the diplomatic staff appointed by the previous government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced that it is finally shutting down operations after more than two years of the Taliban takeover of that country. The embassy, which once hosted several Indian dignitaries and top echelons of the political class, now bears a desolate look with life-sized images of Ghani still adorning its walls.
While such a development seemed inevitable after the Taliban marched inside the Afghan capital of Kabul on August 15, 2021, the way the embassy shutdown happened has thrown several questions to the Indian government, which always prided itself in being a friend of Afghanistan despite the country’s tumultuous history. However, matters turned ugly this time even as the diplomatic staff of the former Afghan democratic government accused India of cooperating with Taliban-appointed and affiliated diplomats — a huge charge against New Delhi, which has chosen to maintain radio silence in this matter.
From the establishment of the Treaty of Friendship in 1950 between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Nadjibullah to the signing of Agreement of Strategic Partnership in 2011 between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Kabul has faced innumerable ups and downs. Despite Pakistan playing the role of a disruptor, India and Afghanistan have maintained strong neighbourly ties for decades. Till August 2021, India was the most favoured destination for Afghan students and politicians who viewed the country not only as an epitome of democracy but a country where Afghans were welcome with open arms. Rabindranath Tagore’s famous short story, Kabuliwallah, although a work of fiction, shows how close Indians and Afghans have........
© ABP Live
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Nikkei Editorial
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
