NEW DELHI: India has signalled a further deepening of its engagement with Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities by sending a senior Foreign Ministry official to an event in New Delhi marking the fifth anniversary of the group’s return to power.
Anand Prakash, who heads the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran division at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, represented the Indian government at the ceremony held at the Afghan embassy in New Delhi.
The Taliban organised events in New Delhi and Islamabad to mark the anniversary, two days after the fifth anniversary of its takeover of Afghanistan.
While an Indian official attended the gathering in New Delhi, no senior Pakistani government representative was reported to have attended the Taliban event in Islamabad.
Addressing the New Delhi gathering, Noor Ahmad Noor, the Taliban’s chargé d’affaires in India, said increasing political trust, expanding economic cooperation and sustained engagement between Afghanistan and India served the interests of both countries.
Noor thanked India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar for what he described as their support for Afghanistan’s international rights. He called for greater Indian backing for Afghanistan.
Growing India-Taliban engagement
The Indian government has not formally recognised the Taliban administration, but relations between the two sides have gradually expanded.
The Taliban has strengthened its diplomatic presence in New Delhi, while India has also increased the level of its diplomatic representation in Kabul. Last year, India allowed Taliban-appointed diplomats to assume control of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi.
The developments have enabled the two sides to maintain official contacts despite New Delhi’s continued refusal to formally recognise the Taliban government.
The Afghan national flag remains displayed at the embassy in New Delhi, while Taliban representatives have been allowed to organise events and meetings at the diplomatic mission under the group’s own flag.
High-level Taliban visits to India have also increased in recent months. Among the most prominent were Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to New Delhi in October 2025 and Industry and Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi’s visit the following month.
Ties with Pakistan under strain
The growing India-Taliban relationship comes against the backdrop of increasingly strained relations between Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities and Pakistan following terrorist attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad says were launched from Afghan territory.
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Noor said Afghanistan-India relations had made “significant progress” in recent years, describing the relationship as being built on mutual respect, political engagement and shared interests.
The latest New Delhi event is therefore another indication that India-Taliban engagement is becoming increasingly institutionalised, even as the Taliban continues to face questions over international recognition and its domestic policies.
