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India Enhances Ties With Taliban Amid Afghan-Pak Differences

New Delhi has stepped up its engagement with the Taliban*, with the hardline Islamic movement in Kabul stressing that Afghan territory will not be used for anti-India activities.
Sputnik
The invitation by the Indian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to an Afghan official to attend the Republic Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi is part of India's "policy of maintaining some relations" with the Taliban-ruled state as it is of great strategic importance to India, says an expert.

"India, like many other countries, including the US and some European countries, have realised the fact that the Taliban is here to stay. They're not going anywhere. That's why it's necessary to have a working relationship with them," Qamar Agha, a strategic expert, told Sputnik.

He added that even if the world cannot recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, most countries have realised that they have to deal with the Islamic Emirate as it is.

"As we all know, the Taliban regime cannot be recognised by the world unless it meets the required conditions, and knowing this well, the countries of the world and the Taliban themselves have reached a point where the necessary working relations are being maintained in the interest of all concerned," Agha said.

He said New Delhi would never want the Taliban to cause trouble for India, so it has a policy of maintaining some relations with them, and the people-to-people ties between the two also paves the way for a relationship.
The strategic affairs pundit also suggested that the widening rift and growing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan were also a factor in bringing India closer to the hardline Islamic movement to ensure peace in the neighbourhood.

"India, being its immediate neighbour, doesn't want the Taliban to allow Afghanistan to be used for anti-India activities," he said, adding that any hostile activity could divert India's focus and affect its growth rate.

The Indian embassy had invited Badruddin Haqqani, a prominent Taliban figure who serves as the Charge d'Affaires (CdA) of the 'Islamic Republic of Afghanistan', to attend the Republic Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi.
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* under UN sanctions
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