India and regional powers must ensure that Afghan rulers respect the rights of their people
India’s participation in 10 countries meeting with Taliban officials in Moscow And the signing of a joint statement recognizing the “new reality” in Afghanistan signals a decisive shift in the country’s attitude toward the Islamist group. India had earlier taken a tough stand against any association with the Taliban. In recent months, as the Taliban continued to advance towards Kabul, India had established contacts with the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Qatar, but this is the first time. India met a top Taliban delegation, which included Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi, and promised to send aid, according to a Taliban spokesman. India has important interests in Afghanistan. Over 20 years, it has invested billions of dollars that it wants to protect. The last time the Taliban, which had close ties with anti-India terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, were in power, India saw an increase in violent incidents in Kashmir as well as an Indian plane in Kandahar. I saw the kidnapping. Now the Taliban say that they will not allow any terrorist organization to use Afghan soil. It is in India’s interest to ensure that the Taliban carry on the talks. He would not like to see a separate Taliban being a Pakistani satellite. To meet these goals, engagement with the Taliban is a strategic necessity, given the new reality in Afghanistan.
But it is a policy that needs to be pursued more through regional diplomacy than through bilateral relations. Bilaterally, India does not have much clout with the Taliban. But Afghanistan’s new ruler, grappling with an economy on the verge of collapse, is more eager to engage with regional powers this time. So Moscow 10, which includes China, Pakistan, Iran and the Central Asian Republic, has some advantage. These countries also have a common interest in seeing the Taliban sever its terrorist ties and see Afghanistan stabilize. If not, instability could once again spread beyond the borders of Afghanistan. For this, the Taliban must be prepared to open their government, share power with other political and ethnic communities, and respect the fundamental rights of Afghans. The last 40 years of Afghanistan’s history are a brutal example of what can go wrong if one party or group tries to take all power into its own hands. Despite these historical examples, the Taliban have shown little readiness to change their ways. In a joint statement, India and others asked the Taliban to maintain their commitment on forming an inclusive government and ensure that their territory is not used by terrorist groups. These calls must not end with statements. While India and other regional countries must help Afghans during this period of economic crisis, they must use their collective economic and political clout to pressure the Taliban into making political concessions at home.
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