The relationship between India and Afghanistan has long carried deep historical resonance, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange, shared civilizational links and more recently, strategic imperatives that extend far beyond their borders. From the ancient Gandhara civilization to the modern geopolitical theatre of South and Central Asia, the ties between the two nations have evolved through periods of cooperation, conflict, ambition and recalibration. In the contemporary era, particularly after the seismic shifts in Afghanistan’s political landscape since 2021, India’s engagement with Kabul especially in the realm of security collaboration has taken on renewed significance not only for bilateral stability but for the wider peace and prosperity of the region.
India’s involvement in Afghanistan’s security and development predates much of the turmoil of the twenty-first century. After the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001 and the subsequent U.S led intervention, India emerged as one of Afghanistan’s most committed partners in reconstruction. Over the next two decades, New Delhi invested hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure, education, health and capacity building projects aimed at nurturing stability in a country devastated by conflict. Beyond development, cooperation extended into defence training and institutional capacity building, as Indian military and police academies hosted Afghan personnel for professional instruction a practice that underscored India’s long-standing belief that capacity and confidence in Afghan security institutions were vital to the nation’s future.
Central to the framework of this engagement was the Afghanistan–India Strategic Partnership Agreement, signed in 2011 under the governments of President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This landmark pact formalized cooperation across sectors ranging from infrastructure to political dialogue and crucially, laid the conceptual foundation for security collaboration without direct foreign troop deployment. India committed, within this framework, to assist Afghanistan in strengthening its security capabilities through training and equipping programmes while supporting an “Afghan-led, Afghan owned and Afghan controlled” peace process.
Despite the lofty language of partnership, the ground reality was always more complex. India’s security engagement in Afghanistan was shaped not only by Kabul’s own fragile institutions and pervasive insurgency but also by the broader dynamics of regional competition especially with Pakistan. Throughout the Afghan war years, militant groups sought to exploit Afghan territory as safe havens to plan attacks, target Indian assets and disrupt reconstruction efforts. Historic incidents such as the 2009 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, claimed by the Taliban, dramatize the risks inherent in India’s proximity to Afghanistan’s security crisis and the violent spill overs that threatened its personnel and projects.
The dramatic withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2021 and the rapid return of the Taliban to power altered the geopolitical calculus yet again. Most countries severed formal diplomatic ties with Kabul amid deep concern over the Taliban’s approach to governance and human rights. India, too, closed its embassy in Kabul during the tumultuous transition, evacuating its citizens and vulnerable Afghans in a carefully planned humanitarian operation known as Operation Devi Shakti. This evacuation highlighted India’s commitment to human security even in the face of profound uncertainty.
In the years that followed, however, both India and the Taliban leadership came to recognize the imperative of engagement. Afghanistan’s internal instability, the resurgence or persistence of extremist threats and the desire to prevent the nation from becoming a launchpad for transnational militancy drove both sides to recalibrate their posture. For India, the question was not recognition of the Taliban government but establishing a pragmatic diplomatic footprint that could serve as a channel for security dialogue, influence potential policy outcomes and mitigate risks to its own national interests. In 2022, New Delhi maintained a limited technical mission in Kabul focused on humanitarian assistance, even as it refrained from full diplomatic recognition a delicate balance that reflected both strategic caution and regional realism.
By late 2025, India elevated this engagement further by upgrading its technical mission to a full embassy, a move that marked the highest level of diplomatic presence since the Taliban takeover. Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s official visit to India his first to New Delhi underscored this shift. While India has made clear that enhanced engagement does not equate to endorsement of the Taliban’s governance model, the relationship has moved toward a functional dialogue focused on shared security concerns and development cooperation. Afghan officials have emphasized that their territory will not be used against other nations, a reassurance New Delhi views as essential to reducing the threat of cross-border terrorism that could emanate toward India.
At the heart of this security collaboration is a mutual interest in preventing Afghanistan from becoming a breeding ground for extremist ideologies that could destabilize the region. Extremist organizations such as the Haqqani Network and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have historically exploited porous borders and weak governance to pursue violent agendas. India fears that a security vacuum in Afghanistan could embolden these groups, threaten internal stability and provide hostile actors with sanctuaries from which to train, coordinate and execute attacks.
By engaging with Kabul’s leadership even informally and without formal recognition India seeks to maintain lines of communication that could deter or disrupt such threats. Simultaneously, India’s reopening of its embassy and enhanced diplomatic footprint create opportunities for intelligence sharing and coordination aimed at counter-terrorism. While formal military collaboration on Afghan soil remains sensitive and constrained by political realities, there is an understanding that stabilising Afghanistan’s internal security architecture, even incrementally, contributes to a more secure neighborhood. India’s approach blends hard and soft strategies while it avoids deploying troops, it promotes capacity building, humanitarian assistance and technical cooperation that strengthen Afghan resilience against violence.
Beyond traditional security concerns, India and Afghanistan’s partnership increasingly intersects with economic and infrastructural cooperation, which are critical for long-term stability. Landlocked Afghanistan depends on improved connectivity and trade routes to integrate with regional markets and India has been a key advocate of transit solutions that bypass hostile corridors. The revival of links through Iran’s Chabahar Port a trilateral initiative involving India, Iran and Afghanistan offers a strategic alternative for Afghan trade and connectivity, reducing reliance on routes through Pakistan that have historically been disrupted by border tensions. This partnership not only bolsters economic resilience but also creates interdependencies that can reinforce peace and shared prosperity.
Economic engagement also has a security dimension: a more prosperous and connected Afghanistan can offer fewer incentives for its citizens to join extremist movements out of desperation or disenfranchisement. India’s investments in education, healthcare and infrastructure reflected in projects ranging from school construction to scholarship programmes and public health initiatives are designed to underpin societal stability. By enhancing livelihoods and human capital, these efforts aim to build a constituency for peace that transcends factional divisions and violence.
The regional context further amplifies the importance of India–Afghanistan collaboration in security matters. Afghanistan’s neighbours, including Iran, Central Asian republics, Russia and China, all have vested interests in the direction of Kabul’s governance and its impact on cross-border militancy, narcotics trafficking and refugee flows. India’s engagement dovetails with multilateral mechanisms such as the Moscow Format and other diplomatic forums that seek inclusive approaches to Afghan stability, emphasizing shared responsibility among regional stakeholders to mitigate security threats and promote dialogue.
While the broad contours of security collaboration are clear, the partnership faces formidable challenges. The Taliban’s restrictive policies on human rights, particularly regarding women and minorities, remain a source of international concern and moral friction that complicates deeper normalization of ties. India has been careful to distinguish engagement for stability from endorsement of such policies, balancing strategic imperatives with principled positions on inclusion and rights. Moreover, the internal volatility of Afghanistan’s political environment, fragmentation within Taliban ranks, and persistent insurgent threats pose ongoing risks to any collaborative security framework.
Another complication arises from regional rivalries. Pakistan’s historically close relationship with the Taliban and its strategic calculations vis-à-vis India continue to influence the security dynamics in and around Afghanistan. Sporadic border clashes between Afghan forces and Pakistani troops highlight how interconnected rivalries can complicate efforts toward regional peace, underscoring the fragile equilibrium that New Delhi must navigate in its engagement strategy.
Despite these hurdles, India’s calibrated security collaboration with Afghanistan reflects a mature diplomatic approach that prioritizes the larger goal of regional peace and stability. Rather than pursuing transactional interests or unilateral influence, India’s policy emphasizes inclusive development, respect for Afghan sovereignty, and cooperation on shared threats. In doing so, it positions itself not merely as an external great power but as a stakeholder in a stable, peaceful South and Central Asia.
In conclusion, India-Afghanistan security collaboration is emblematic of a broader shift in regional diplomacy where traditional divisions and mistrust are being reassessed in pursuit of mutual stability. Through a blend of diplomatic engagement, humanitarian assistance, economic cooperation and strategic dialogue, India aims to support a peaceful Afghanistan that is resilient against extremism and integrated into a network of constructive regional relationships. The path ahead is fraught with challenges, but the evolving partnership demonstrates a recognition that sustainable peace in Afghanistan is inseparable from the security and prosperity of the region as a whole.
