AT the recently concluded Astana International Forum 2025, Kazakhstan, this author had the chance to meet and hear the acting Afghan Minister of Trade and Industry.
The forum, convened from May 29 to May 30, 2025, was a platform for diverse voices from around the globe. A significant moment, therefore, was a session with Haji Nooruddin Azizi, Minister of Trade and Industry of the current Taliban government in Afghanistan.
The minister pitched for investments and businesses in his war-torn country, underscoring that every facet of the Afghan life was a priority and needed urgent global support. Speaking in Farsi, he outlined how his government and, in particular his ministry, was tackling corruption, a long-term malady in Afghanistan. Azizi explained that his ministry was easing norms and rules for faster processing of trade and business like registration of companies, issuance of licenses etc.
Kazakhstan had been one of the first countries to remove the Taliban from its list of terror and proscribed organisations. Eight months ago, Taliban representatives, or as they term, the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan, opened its official representation in the Kazakh capital.
India has recently established relations with the acting Taliban government of Afghanistan. The Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s meeting with the acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in January this year, had made headlines. It had then been construed that India was reaching out to the Taliban because it was now embroiled in conflict with arch-rival Pakistan. On December 24, the Pakistan Air Force carried out strikes on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the bordering Afghan province of Paktika. While Pakistan claimed that TTP terrorists had been eliminated, the Afghan Taliban claimed that the strikes killed 46 civilians, mostly women and children. On December 28, the Taliban claimed to carry out retaliatory strikes against Pakistan
The meeting had focussed mainly on India’s humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which India agreed to increase. Talks had also touched upon “development projects in the near future,”, and the use of the Chabahar port in Iran for bilateral trade, and humanitarian assistance. The Taliban, in turn, issued a statement that said that it sought to strengthen political and economic relations with India, “a key regional and economic player.”
At the Astana International Forum 2025 in Kazakhstan, the acting minister of Trade and Industry of the current Taliban government in Afghanistan, pitched for investments and businesses in his country, requesting for urgent global support. Well, considering that there has mostly been goodwill between India and Afghanistan, it’s only wise for India to seize the moment in Afghanistan
Misri’s meeting had followed Indian condemnation of Pakistan’s air strikes on Afghan territory.
Fast forward to the present: India faced the Pahalgam massacre and then Operation Sindoor followed. Afghanistan was one of the few countries that outright supported India. One only had to browse through social media and comments on new sites to know, Afghans, by and large, whatever their political inclination, supported India unabashedly.
When Pakistan disseminated the falsehood that India had launched a missile strike on Afghan territory, Taliban officials immediately rejected the statement.
No surprises, therefore, that soon after the ceasefire was imposed none other than External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar held a telephone call with the acting Afghan foreign minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. This was the first ministerial-level phone call since the Taliban came to power through military conquest as the US withdrew its forces in August 2021.
In a post on “X”, Jaishankar said he had a “good conversation” with Muttaqi on Thursday evening, adding “deeply appreciate his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack”. He also appreciated Kabul’s rejection of the Pakistani claim that India had launched missile strikes on Afghan territory, adding that India “welcomed” his “firm rejection of recent attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan through false and baseless reports”.
While a growing rift between Pakistan and the Taliban may have catalysed India’s outreach to the Taliban, commonsense would have demanded the same.
At the forum at Astana, Azizi expressed his gratitude to the Kazakh government for its support. He had also held a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Russia – India’s strategic partner, Turkiye, China and Kazakhstan were at the forefront of supporting Afghanistan in trade and investments. So was Iran. This was almost the entire Eurasian region and Afghanistan’s neighbourhood. All other regional powers and Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan had opened channels of communication with the Taliban, coordinating local and border security and trade while the US-backed Ashraf Ghani government was still in charge.
India was the only one left out. However, regional security, trade and real politik demand that India engages with the Taliban. And finally India has come around to doing that.
Afghanistan is a resource-rich country, situated at the heart of the Eurasian landmass, a natural bridge between Central and South Asia. India has had centuries long civilisational ties with Afghanistan, irrespective of who was at the helm of affairs there. It was disrupted for a short while during Taliban 1.0, when the group had been totally subservient to Pakistan, rather to the Pakistani deep state. Yet, the people of Afghanistan continued to harbor the goodwill they had always had for India.
Moreover, the Taliban 2.0, desperate to consolidate their position, and a seat in Kabul – have become aware of their responsibility. They wish to cultivate positive relations with all regional countries for trade and much needed income and development. They are, thus, willing to guarantee security for the region, and not allow any threat to any country in the region emanate from its territory.
In this context, the Taliban remain the most promising foil and bulwark against the ISIS – Khorasan Province whose footprint has been increasing in the region with brutal attacks inside Iran, Russia, and attempted ones on countries like India, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The decimation of the group in Iraq has heightened the danger to Central and South Asia as the residual recruits have flocked to Afghanistan.
If the Taliban could effectively deal with the ISIS and sundry other terror groups on its territory then it would not only ensure security for the region but also security for business and trade opportunities that Afghanistan opens up. Engaging with the Taliban would be a trade-off for security for these states.
The Taliban now, persuaded by China, has upgraded its diplomatic ties with Pakistan. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has recently announced that the charge d’affaires stationed in the Afghan capital, Kabul, would be elevated to the rank of ambassador. The Taliban government has, in response also announced that its representative in Islamabad, would also be upgraded. The acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is also due to visit Pakistan soon.
This should spur India to deepen its engagement with the Taliban government. It has already restarted issuing visas to certain categories of Afghans, and has continued to send humanitarian aid to the war torn country. India must seize the moment to initiate trade and investments and enlarge its footprint in a nation where a groundswell of goodwill for India continues to exist.
