India’s Afghan Overture Rings Hollow in the Shadows of Terror

In a recent gathering marked by diplomatic courtesies and cautious optimism, India and the Central Asian Republics reaffirmed their support for a “peaceful, stable, and terror-free” Afghanistan. The joint statement, delivered at the Fourth India-Central Asia Dialogue of Foreign Ministers, painted a picture of shared regional vision, emphasizing humanitarian aid and acknowledging the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) role in regional development. But beneath the surface of these proclamations lies a troubling contradiction that many regional stakeholders—particularly Pakistan and China—can no longer ignore.

India’s repeated invocations of a “terrorism-free Afghanistan” are striking in their duplicity. New Delhi, under the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has not only maintained covert ties with militant factions hostile to Pakistan but has also reportedly exploited Afghan soil to fuel unrest across its western border. The Pakistani government has long accused India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of operating under the guise of development and technical missions in Afghanistan while discreetly aiding terrorist proxies, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

These are not unsubstantiated allegations. The global security architecture is increasingly attuned to India’s intelligence operations targeting Chinese and Pakistani interests. Groups like the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), once dormant, have found breathing space in Afghanistan’s fragmented terrain. Their renewed activities suggest a broader pattern of destabilization—one that aligns suspiciously well with India’s strategic calculus of encircling Pakistan and curtailing China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

India’s supposed non-interference in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs also deserves critical scrutiny. Only recently, New Delhi was seen lending tacit support to remnants of the Northern Alliance, long opposed to the Taliban regime. While Afghanistan’s new rulers, the Islamic Emirate, might view closer economic ties with India as pragmatic, such rapprochement raises eyebrows given India’s well-documented hostility towards many Muslim-majority nations and its escalating Islamophobic rhetoric under the BJP.

What’s more, India’s overtures to Central Asian states are increasingly cloaked in a militaristic posture. From seeking logistics access to rumored base negotiations, India’s defense diplomacy suggests a long-term ambition to entrench itself in the region—not as a stabilizing power, but as a strategic counterweight to China and Pakistan. This chessboard thinking undermines the very spirit of cooperation that forums like the SCO claim to champion.

India’s growing engagement in Afghanistan cannot be assessed in isolation. The nexus of RAW, TTP, BLA, and ETIM is not just a threat to Pakistan—it challenges the core security interests of the entire region. China, in particular, has invested heavily in Afghan stability through infrastructure and economic aid. Any attempt to turn Afghanistan into a proxy battlefield will be met with strategic resistance from both Islamabad and Beijing.

Afghanistan, still grappling with the consequences of decades of conflict, stands at a delicate crossroads. While the Taliban regime seeks legitimacy and foreign partnerships, it must tread carefully. Allowing Indian intelligence operations to proliferate under the guise of diplomacy risks reigniting proxy wars and turning Afghanistan into a theater of regional rivalry once more.

The Central Asian states would also do well to remain vigilant. India’s engagement may appear development-focused on paper, but its long history of covert operations and intelligence manipulation suggests otherwise. What begins as technical cooperation can quickly mutate into geopolitical leverage—and eventually, destabilization.

For peace in the region to be more than a rhetorical aspiration, India must be held accountable not only for its words but for its actions. A truly “terror-free Afghanistan” cannot coexist with an India-backed network of insurgents and saboteurs. The Afghan Taliban, as the current custodian of Afghan sovereignty, must ensure that their soil is not used to further foreign agendas against their neighbors.

Peace requires more than partnerships; it demands principled policies. If India is sincere in its desire for regional stability, it must dismantle its covert war machinery and stop weaponizing Afghanistan’s fragility for its strategic gains.