Of the many strategic gains that India can claim from Operation Sindoor, few represent as dramatic a turnaround as the growing bonhomie between New Delhi and the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan. Last week, the external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, spoke to the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, marking the highest-ever public contact between Kabul and New Delhi, building on a rapidly developing relationship that would have been impossible to imagine four years ago. Mr Jaishankar thanked Mr Muttaqi for the Taliban government’s unequivocal condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22 that triggered a brief but intense military confrontation between India and Pakistan. He also thanked his Taliban counterpart for rejecting false suggestions emanating from Pakistan that India, in the course of Operation Sindoor, had fired missiles into Afghanistan. For 25 years since the Taliban first grabbed power in Afghanistan in 1996, then was ousted by an invasion by the United States of America in 2001, and eventually took charge again in 2021, India viewed the group as a proxy of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. India blamed the Taliban and their allies like the Haqqani network for carrying out multiple deadly attacks against its embassy and consulates in Afghanistan. For the same Taliban — with the Haqqanis in senior ministerial positions — to now effectively serve as potential allies against terrorism is a stunning shift in India’s relationship with the Afghan group.

Mr Jaishankar’s call with Mr Muttaqi has been years in the making. Soon after the Taliban returned to power, they indicated that they wanted better ties with India where thousands of Afghans study and seek medical treatment. At the same time, the Taliban’s relations with Pakistan soured, with Islamabad accusing its former allies of allowing anti-Pakistan terror groups to operate from Afghan soil. Since then, India has carefully built up its ties with the Taliban, including through a meeting in January between India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, and Mr Muttaqi. A deepening relationship with the Taliban — even though India does not recognise the group’s government in Afghanistan — helps New Delhi strategically in its efforts to put pressure on Pakistan. The Taliban are also seeking wider diplomatic recognition: Mr Muttaqi was in Iran over the weekend, is in China this week, and will also meet Pakistan’s foreign minister in Beijing. No longer pariahs, the Taliban are at the centre of a rejig in regional allegiances. India must stay ready with its next move.