India to allow ambassador-level Taliban post to counter China

By Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Eltaf Najafizada

India’s government is expected to accept a top Taliban representative to the country soon, the latest step from New Delhi to improve ties with Kabul and counter China’s growing influence in Afghanistan.

The Taliban-led government has identified two potential candidates to take charge of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, according to officials familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The Taliban official won’t be recognized as a diplomat by India but will be the top representative for the government there, the people said. The Taliban won’t be able to fly its flag at the embassy, at events or on official vehicles, they said.

Only a handful of countries, including China, Pakistan and Russia, have accepted diplomats from the Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 and has been condemned internationally for human rights violations. India, like many other countries, severed diplomatic ties with Afghanistan at the time, closing its embassy in Kabul and limiting engagement with the country.

Najib Shaheen, a diplomat in his early 30s at the Afghan embassy in Doha, is the main contender for the ambassador-level role in New Delhi, according to officials familiar with the discussions. He has worked with the Taliban for almost a decade, and is the son of the Islamic regime’s ambassador to Qatar, they said. Shawkat Ahmadzai, who works at the ministry of foreign affairs, is another candidate being considered for the role, one of the officials said.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairsdidn’t respond to a requests for further information.

China granted diplomatic credentials to the Taliban last year, making it the first country to do so since the Islamic group retook control of Afghanistan. The country’s location is of strategic importance to both India and China as it connects Central Asia with South Asia. Chinese companies have continued to invest in mining and other infrastructure projects in Afghanistan even after the Taliban took over.

The Taliban is also planning to build a road through the remote Wakhan Corridor, which connects Afghanistan with China. Once ready, it would give China direct access to Central Asia and the Middle East and allow Beijing to grow its economic influence in the resource-rich region.

India in now taking tentative steps toward rebuilding ties with Kabul. Before 2021, India was involved in over 500 development and infrastructure projects across Afghanistan, in areas ranging from power and water supplies to education and healthcare.

The two nations agreed to resume bilateral trade after senior representatives from both sides met in Doha in January. The Taliban also recently sent an administrator to Mumbai to help Afghan citizens with consular services.