![Indian Presence in Afghanistan; A Limited Horizon [Part II]](https://al-sarira.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/11-1.webp)
Following the Taliban restoration of power in 2021, India faced criticism for halting Afghan immigration, especially academic and clinical visas. For three years, it has granted Afghans extremely few visas. Many Afghan people who had previously chosen India as their top option for college education, healthcare, and other services would benefit from the process’s resumption.
India could be hesitant to advance its relationship with the Taliban for further reasons. India has long made an effort to promote and establish itself as the biggest greatest in the world. However, it hasn’t even denounced Afghanistan’s prohibition on females’ schooling. Regarding these matters, there has been utter indifference.
India is still very much present in Afghanistan. Following the Taliban were overthrown in 2001 after the American war, it was among the first nations to dispatch an official delegation. India hasn’t had a clear policy for this area, nevertheless, despite having significant stakes in it.
India placed Afghanistan in its political sidelines as many other nations swiftly adapted to the new situation. To combat the Islamic State of Khoransan Province, even the United States has started collaborating with the Taliban on efforts to combat terrorism.
However, nations that supported and assisted the Taliban, including as Iran and Pakistan, have allowed its opponents to interact with one another. Ismael Khan and other opposition leaders are in Iran. The Tajik government, which at first harshly criticized the Taliban, has changed its mind but still welcomes the opposition.
Players in the region are already evaluating the potential impact on the Taliban of the impending Trump government in the Washington. Afghanistan has fallen out of Washington’s political awareness. Even if the nation is still important in terms of security, it won’t take precedence over more pressing problems like Iran, Israel, and Russia.
Trump’s tactics are like making steps one after another in a long ladder. But under the new president in the United States, the Taliban opponents attempting to bolster itself would come across a more receptive heart than they ever had under Joe Biden.
New elhi has not interacted with a variety of actors in Afghanistan, even though it is the most powerful nation in the area. Over time, India secluded its interests in Afghanistan and throughout the wider region. India erred by gambling everything it had on the former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Embracing Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh caused India to lose ground, which was an identical error.
It can take some time to fix this since India might not have the necessary knowledge of Afghan population. Building relationships at the political spectrum is only one aspect of it; another is comprehending the workings of particular sociocultural structures. This comprehension does not appear to exist in New Delhi. The physical and cultural proximity of the two countries makes that paradoxical. However, Pakistan made very little effort to comprehend the culture. Islam Abad may be undertaking the same error and placing all of its hopes in the Taliban future. In any event, the power horizon in Afghanistan continues to be extremely unstable.
