SEVEN STEPS TO REBUILD BRIDGE TO KABUL

The four-year-old Taliban govt has belied fears that it would collude with Islamabad to foment trouble in India. It's time for New Delhi to revitalise its age-old ties with Kabul

- SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI

India has always enjoyed immense goodwill in Afghanistan, our civilizational neighbour. This is true even now, when Kabul has again come under Taliban rule. Sadly, many Indians, influenced by the western media narrative, view the Taliban as jihadi terrorists. When a defeated America withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, paving the way for a quick takeover of power by the Taliban, they saw it as a catastrophe for India. Having convinced themselves that the Taliban were a mere puppet created and controlled by Pakistan, they anticipated a spurt in joint Pakistan-Taliban terror offensives against India.

The four-year-old Taliban rule in Kabul has belied these fears. If anything, relations between Kabul and Islamabad have been tense. When I met Suhail Shaheen, a senior Taliban leader who headed the Doha political office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, in February 2024, he said, "India should shed the suspicion that the Taliban is 'close to Pakistan' and 'against India'. Our government is firmly committed to the principle that we shall not allow anybody to use our soil against India or any other country." I have met several Taliban officials since then, and all of them have expressed the same view.