Link to article: https://thediplomat.com/2025/01/growing-taliban-india-closeness-should-pakistan-be-worried/
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met with the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Dubai on January 8. It was the highest level of diplomatic discussion the two bodies have had since the takeover of Kabul in 2021. Muttaqi showed gratitude for India’s humanitarian assistance and desire for better governmental relations in the future, stating that India and the Taliban would complement each other. According to Muttaqi, increased Taliban involvement would involve more trade, possible development projects, and an easing visa regime. India and the Taliban historically haven’t been on the greatest of terms. India invested a lot of money in Afghanistan after the Taliban fell in 2001, and it was all for naught when the Taliban regained power two decades later. Since then, their involvement in the country was small, but they continued to express interest in a partnership.
To answer the question in the article, absolutely. Are Pakistan-Taliban relations even existent anymore? Pakistan launched an airstrike on Afghanistan a few weeks ago. That isn’t something friends typically do. That’s probably why this meeting happened. The Taliban realized they lost Pakistan and now want to go for the other central Asian power. Maybe Pakistan will get jealous and send a heartfelt apology. The relationship of these 3 powers dictates the state of the region, so this is pretty important. This meeting sounds pretty one-sided. We didn’t get to hear anything that Misri said. It was all “you’re awesome, India” from Muttaqi and negotiations for more involvement between the two.
This relates to class because the two entities are engaging in foreign relations. Specifically, they are in talks of reciprocity, which is when both parties gain something from an action. In this case, they would be working together to develop each other and trade more often. The easing of visa restrictions would also have a possible side effect of increased tourism in the countries. The Taliban wants good relations with India because they are a regional hegemon, which is a state that exercises power over a region. They use their power for either peacekeeping or domination.