KABUL

- In his meeting with an official Indian delegation that arrived in the capital, Kabul, on Thursday, the acting Afghan Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaki, asked New Delhi to resume its suspended projects and reopen its embassy in Afghanistan.

The meeting was considered the beginning of the restoration of relations suspended with India since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

A delegation headed by Indian Foreign Secretary JP Singh visited the Afghan capital "Kabul" for the first time since the Taliban movement came to power, and met with Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaki and his Undersecretary Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanekzai.

India withdrew its diplomats from Afghanistan last August, and closed its embassy there, but it recalculated its relationship with the country in which its enemy, Pakistan, enjoys great influence.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said that the latest meeting "marked a good start for the resumption of relations with India."

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, he called on the Indian government to strengthen its diplomatic presence in his country.

Afghan health workers unload boxes containing coronavirus vaccines donated by the Indian government in Kabul (Reuters)

key player

Despite the withdrawal of its representatives and the closure of its embassy, ​​India began early talks with the Taliban following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer, when the head of the movement's political office at the time, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, met in the Qatari capital, Doha, with Indian National Security Adviser Agip Doval.

A source in the Afghan Foreign Ministry told Al Jazeera Net that a prominent Taliban leader gifted an Afghani incense box to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through contacts in a third country, and that "the relations between the Taliban and the Indian government have existed since Modi came to power in 2014 and that the movement looks at India." As a key player in the region."

The relationship between India and the Taliban movement passed through complex stages, the most difficult of which was in the first government of the Taliban movement in 1996;

Where India stood with the Afghan government headed by Burhanuddin Rabbani and supported it with money and weapons.

Prior to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, targeting Indian-funded projects there was an essential part of the Taliban's combat strategy from 2008 to 2018.

Despite the hostility between the two parties, secret channels of communication appeared to the public after the signing of the agreement between the United States and the Taliban movement in Doha at the end of February 2020.

After the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, Afghan Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanekzai, who had studied in India prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, met the Indian ambassador in Doha.


Foothold and competition

India researcher Jawad Taymouri attributes India's return to Afghanistan to geopolitical reasons, as Iran, China, Pakistan and Russia seek to strengthen their influence and role in Afghanistan.

Timuri told Al Jazeera Net, "India exited the Afghan scene with the Taliban's arrival in power, and is now trying to get a foothold to arrange its cards again and compete with Pakistan and China, who play a major role in the Afghan file."

Observers of the Afghan issue believe that India has accepted the fait accompli and the authority of the Taliban movement, which it believes will play a prominent role in any future regime in Kabul.

While India seeks to strengthen its position to meet the increasing Pakistani and Chinese influence in Afghanistan, which it views with great concern.

India is watching the Chinese presence, in particular, with concern given that Beijing has on several recent occasions left New Delhi out of crucial discussions such as the trilateral talks between China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The researcher in international relations, Najib Nankial, says that India seeks to achieve two goals in Afghanistan: the first is to monitor the activities of armed movements in Kashmir and India so that they do not find centers for themselves on Afghan soil, and so that they do not threaten Indian national security from Afghanistan.

As for the second goal, Nangial tells Al Jazeera Net, India, like Pakistan, sees Afghanistan as a major gateway to the Central Asian markets and is trying to benefit from energy trade through this gate.

Chinese Foreign Minister Weng Yi with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar as India views Chinese influence in Afghanistan with great concern (Getty Images)

Not only India

It seems that rapprochement and openness to the Taliban is not limited to India only. After the fall of the previous Afghan government, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan established friendly relations with the Taliban.

Ashgabat handed over the Afghan embassy to the representative of the movement.

There is no common ideological relationship between the Taliban and the countries of Central Asia, but rather an intellectual and historical contradiction between the two parties.

However, a source in the Afghan Foreign Ministry tells Al Jazeera Net, that only one thing brings Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan closer to the Taliban, which is "water";

Afghanistan shares 3 rivers with the two Asian countries.

These rivers are important to their economic development, national security and food, so they don't want to stir up trouble with the Taliban.

According to the source, the water policy set by former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani worried neighboring countries, especially since his government used common water issues as a pressure tool in dealing with the ocean.

Water expert Ahmedullah Khan told Al-Jazeera Net that President Ghani proposed several projects on the Kokja River, which is a major tributary of the Gihon River, and this disturbed the countries in northern Afghanistan.

"Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are well aware that the Taliban do not have the ability to plan long-term economic projects, and most importantly, they lack funds to organize and manage water, despite the fact that the movement's presence in power is important for Central Asian countries," he added.


A necessity for international recognition

On the other hand, the Afghan government sees rapprochement with India as a necessary step for regional recognition, after the Taliban established strong ties with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Iran, and is now trying to build bridges with India and Tajikistan.

The Taliban believes that regional acceptance will open the way to international recognition.

Hence the statement by the acting Afghan Defense Minister, Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub, that he has no problem in resuming military relations with India, and that diplomatic relations between the two countries should be restored first.

Yaqoub told Al Jazeera Net that the Taliban are ready to send their forces for training in New Delhi, and "we want good relations with all countries of the world, including India."