By P.K.Balachandran/Daily News

Colombo, October 7 – The world is now knocking at the door of the once despised Taliban, the radical Islamist group ruling Afghanistan. Treated as an international outcaste since it came to power in 2021, the Taliban is being wooed by regional and world powers in the fifth year of its rule.

Given the growing hunger for minerals and other natural resources and Afghanistan’s strategic location, governments are making a beeline to Kabul to get contracts for the extraction of resources believed to be worth US$ 1 trillion.

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban took over Afghanistan from US and NATO forces after a two decade-long devastating war. The radical Islamic group went on to establish a harsh regime with sweeping restrictions on women and girls based on edicts from its leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The United Afghan Women’s Movement for Freedom issued a statement on the occasion saying- “This day marked the beginning of a black domination that excluded women from work, education, and social life. We, the protesting women, remember this day not as a memory, but as an open wound of history, a wound that has not yet healed. The fall of Afghanistan was not the fall of our will. We stand, even in the darkness.”

Rights groups, foreign governments, and the UN have condemned the Taliban for their treatment of women and girls. Governments across the world have been reluctant to establish formal diplomatic relations with it. Their leaders are still sanctioned by the UN Security Council.

But according to Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi equality is ensured under the Shariah law. He has appealed to the world not to look at Afghanistan through the Western cultural lens, or as a strategic battle ground but as a vital link to various nations in the region. And the world appears to be listening.   

Boycott Frays at the Edges

Some countries are operating embassies in Kabul and have accepted diplomats appointed by the Taliban, though without formal recognition. In fact, the Taliban control Afghan embassies in 14 countries.

Afghanistan’s neighbours, concerned about security, trade, migration, and drug trafficking, have established unofficial ties with it to influence the Taliban’s policies. Big powers who have money to invest, are eyeing Afghanistan’s rich natural resources reportedly valued at US$ 1 trillion. It has iron, copper, gold, rare earths, and, most importantly, the world’s biggest deposits of lithium, an essential but scarce component in rechargeable batteries.

China, Russia, Pakistan    

In January 2025, China became the first country to formally accept the credentials of a Taliban-appointed Ambassador, though it did so, without officially recognizing the Taliban-led government. China latter formed a contact group on Afghanistan with Russia, Pakistan and Iran.   

In July, Russia became the first country to formally recognise the Taliban regime.  Earlier in April, the Taliban were removed from Russia’s list of terrorist organisations. President Vladimir Putin referred to the Taliban as an “ally” in fighting terrorism. Taliban representatives had visited Moscow for talks in 2018.

Pakistan had kept a link with the Taliban since October 2021 and allowed the Taliban to take over the Afghan embassy in Islamabad. However, Pakistan-Taliban relations soured because Pakistan  accused the Taliban of supporting the radical Islamist Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terror groups like the Baloch Liberation Army.  Afghanistan does not recognise the Durand Line as its border with Pakistan. Islamabad’s decision to forcibly repatriate more than 80,000 Afghan refugees strained ties with the Taliban.

India

India reopened its embassy in Kabul in 2024 but without giving diplomatic recognition. In March 2025, India decided to allow the Taliban to appoint a representative to lead Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi. India is now set to send personnel to fully resume operations at its embassy and consulates in Afghanistan.  The Afghan Foreign Minister is visiting New Delhi on October 9, for which India requested and got a waiver from UNSC sanctions. Strained Taliban-Pakistan relations has given India a new opening to Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump’s bid to retrieve the American airbase at Bagram in Afghanistan has added a new dimension to India-Afghanistan relations.

A decisive turning point in Indo-Taliban relations came on May 15 after India’s military operations against Pakistan earlier that month.  Taliban-led Afghanistan was one of three countries which supported India, a gesture that reinforced India-Taliban ties. Following the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan in September this year, India  dispatched 1,000 family tents and 15 tonnes of food. This was followed by an additional 21 tonnes of relief material, including essential medicines, hygiene kits, blankets, and generators.

Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, India has supplied Afghanistan with nearly 50,000 tonnes of wheat, more than 330 tonnes of medicines and vaccines, and 40,000 litres of pesticides, along with a range of other essential items, which were critical for millions of Afghans grappling with food insecurity and health challenges.

Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s visit to New Delhi on October 9 is expected to lead to formal diplomatic relations, now that Russia and China have deepened their ties with the Taliban and the US and Russia are competing to build a port at Pasni in Pakistan. 

Central Asia

Given the geographical proximity, Central Asian countries and the Taliban have forged close ties. Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist groups. Uzbekistan has been engaging the Taliban. The Taliban appointed a diplomat to take charge of the Afghan Embassy in the Uzbek capital. Turkmenistan had accepted a Taliban ambassador in March 2022. The two countries worked on regional energy and transport projects. Azerbaijan has reopened its embassy in Kabul.

Tajikistan is the only country in Central Asia to publicly oppose the Taliban’s return to power and has hosted some of the leaders of the National Resistance Front, an anti-Taliban resistance group.

In the Arab world, Qatar has been most friendly. Doha was the scene of negotiations between the Taliban and the US that paved the way for the complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban is expecting Qatar to give it entry into an Islamic alliance. The United Arab Emirates maintains an embassy in Kabul. The Taliban have appointed diplomats to the Afghan Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai.

Saudi Arabia has maintained an embassy in Kabul and continues to offer consular services for Afghans, thousands of whom work in Saudi Arabia as labourers. After the Taliban takeover, Riyadh helped establish an Organization of Islamic Countries mission in Kabul.

Turkiye, however, has been unfriendly with the Taliban. Several exiled Afghan political leaders are believed to reside in Turkey, including former Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Multilateral Forums

In August, representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan held a meeting of the contact group for Afghanistan. Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the meeting emphasized regional cooperation for ensuring Afghanistan’s stability, security, and sustainable development. It sought coordination in the fight against transnational crime, extremism, terrorism, and drug trafficking.

There is already another Afghanistan contact group, comprising Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran. In September, this quadrilateral group jointly expressed deep concern over the presence of terrorist organisations operating from Afghanistan, including Al-Qaeda, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Majid Brigade.

The contact group urged the Afghan authorities to take “effective, concrete and verifiable actions” against terrorist outfits, dismantle training camps, cut off financing, and prevent recruitment and access to weapons.

But the Taliban have repeatedly said that they do not support terrorism and have stated that narcotics will not be cultivated or trafficked and youngsters will not join terror groups if the international community begins to support Afghanistan economically, the US hands back its frozen funds, and countries accord diplomatic recognition.

Recently, the US had reached out to the Taliban and succeeded in getting an American, Amir Amiri, released. The US has also been wanting the airbase in Bagram to be restored to it, with Trump threatening that “very bad things will happen”, if the base is not handed over. The Taliban have categorically rejected the demand. But that does not mean that the US will leave Afghanistan alone, given its location and mineral wealth.

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