The visit of Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India is not merely a diplomatic milestone, it is a quiet revolution in South Asian geopolitics. What was once unthinkable has become inevitable, as India and the Taliban cautiously explore a relationship built not on trust, but on necessity. Both sides have shed ideological rigidity to make space for a more pragmatic engagement, reflecting the shifting realities of a post-American Afghanistan and a more fragmented regional order.

For India, this outreach is rooted in strategic foresight. After two decades of backing the Western-supported Afghan Republic, Delhi has had to adapt to a drastically altered landscape. The Taliban are no longer a proxy confined to Pakistan’s influence; their fraying ties with Islamabad have created a narrow but crucial diplomatic opening. Pakistan’s confrontations with the Taliban over cross-border militancy and its air strikes inside Afghanistan have eroded the old........

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