The geopolitics in South Asia is complex. Its complexity emanates from conflicting interests, great power rivalry, competition, history, and religion. Amid the geopolitical churning in South Asia with regime change, Gen Z reaction, and foreign intervention, the story of Afghanistan adds a new dimension.

The recent meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi underlines the reset of the India-Afghanistan relationship. The pullout of the US from Afghanistan in 2021 paved the way for the Taliban to control the country. The Taliban’s complex history made it difficult to secure global acceptance.

Notwithstanding this, the region’s shifting geopolitical currents, as well as the geostrategic relevance of Afghanistan, drove countries like Russia to establish relations with the Taliban. Hence, Muttaqi’s maiden visit to India after 2021 has significant geopolitical implications, especially in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, Trump’s tariff drama, and the optics of the new US-Pakistan relationship.

Islamabad seems more rattled by this visit. It chose to attack Afghanistan, targeting Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) camps in Kabul. This coincided with Muttaqi’s visit to India, further exacerbating the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan and revealing the severing of ties between the Taliban and Pakistan. Pakistan’s economic and military coercion of Afghanistan has strained Taliban-Pakistan relations. The border tension escalated because the Durand Line has long been a bone of contention. Mortimer Durand’s colonial cartography in 1893 remains unsettled, fostering unending antagonism between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Muttaqi’s visit to India gives Afghanistan the strength to combat cross-border terrorism and Pakistan’s economic and military aggression. The visit mainly focused on a strategic reset—reopening India’s diplomatic presence in Kabul, supplying aid and pharmaceuticals, and collaborating on counter-terrorism and development. India’s investment in Afghanistan has exceeded $3 billion, covering more than 500 projects. These were paused in 2021 with the Taliban’s rise to power. The meeting between the two foreign ministers is expected to resume these stalled projects.

The 218-km Zaranj-Delaram highway (a transit route linking Chabahar port), telecommunications infrastructure, Salma Dam in Herat province, Parliament building in Kabul, schools, the Indira Gandhi Institute for Child Health in Kabul, scholarships for Afghan students, medicine and food supplies, 75,000 metric tons of wheat during the Covid pandemic, and duty-free access for Afghan goods are among India’s key achievements.

There is immense goodwill for India among the Afghan people. Cricket and Bollywood serve as India’s soft power resources, attracting Afghans. India’s quick and effective response to earthquake-stricken Afghanistan as the first responder has helped New Delhi secure trust from Kabul. In contrast, Pakistan has consistently sought to exercise supremacy over Afghanistan and restrict its power, agency, and autonomy.

The US exit has allowed China to enter the Afghan geo-economic space through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and investments in mineral resources, trade, and strategic infrastructure. Afghanistan has become a lost cause for the US. Donald Trump’s calls to regain the Bagram air base in Parwan Province reflect the base’s enduring geostrategic importance. However, it is difficult for the US to re-establish control in Afghanistan.

The US’s strategic myopia in decoupling dramatically from Afghanistan is visible on the ground. The geostrategic importance of Afghanistan is incontestable, making it historically a graveyard of empires. England, the USSR, and the US tried to control Afghanistan and failed. China’s debt trap is embedded in its investment parameters and BRI........

© News18