A recent report by the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar news agency said the Islamic fundamentalist regime had named Ikramuddin Kamil, a postdoctoral student in international law at the South Asian University in New Delhi, as its envoy in Mumbai.

Although Indian officials are yet to make official comments, the agency cited sources in the Taliban’s “foreign ministry” confirming Kamil’s appointment as “acting consul of the Islamic Emirate” who will be in charge of Afghanistan’s consular services and will represent Kabul’s interests in India. metropolis.

“He is currently in Mumbai, where he is carrying out his diplomatic duties,” the agency said this week about Kamil.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, also published on X Kamil’s appointment to the Mumbai consulate.

India sends diplomat to Kabul

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, but have not yet been recognized by any other country in the world. At the same time, several countries have strengthened ties with the regime without recognizing it, including India, which has a strategic plan to expand its footprint in Afghanistan.

The news of Kamil’s appointment in Mumbai comes just days after a senior Indian foreign ministry official visited Afghanistan. JP Singh, head of India’s diplomatic division for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI), met Afghanistan’s “acting defense minister” Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob – the son of the late Taliban founder, Mullah Muhammad Omar – as well as former President Hamid Karzai and others. senior ministers during his visit last week.

An Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the discussions focused on “India’s humanitarian assistance that we are providing to the people in Afghanistan” and how “the business community in Afghanistan » could use the Iranian port of Chabahar for international trade. India views the port as a strategic location and signed a deal with Iran earlier this year to develop and operate the site over the next decade.

Engage without recognition

In recent years, New Delhi has carefully calibrated its approaches towards Kabul to avoid recognizing the legitimacy of the Taliban while engaging them to protect its interests in Afghanistan.

In June 2022, India sent a “technical team” to Kabul to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid and see how New Delhi could support the Afghan people. Since the opening of the technical mission, the Taliban have demanded the presence of their own representative in Delhi.

Then, in January this year, India participated in the Regional Cooperation Initiative meeting convened by the Taliban in Kabul, which was attended by representatives of several countries, including China, Russia, Pakistan and the ‘Iran.

Afghanistan reduced to a ‘non-problem’

India is working to gradually regain the strategic influence in Kabul that it lost when the Taliban took power in August 2021, Afghanistan expert Shanthie Mariet D’Souza told DW.

“This could pave the way for activating its trade links with Central Asian countries through Iran’s Chabahar port and Afghan territory and deprive Pakistan of the strategic depth it has been seeking since the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan,” said D’ Souza, who heads the Mantraya Institute of Strategic Studies in India.

The Taliban also want to “deepen their relations” with India, according to the Afghanistan expert.

D’Souza acknowledged that the Taliban’s quest for legitimacy would be boosted by India’s rapprochement.

“However, the reality is that the West and the United States have effectively reduced Afghanistan to a non-issue, aside from occasional mentions of violations of the rights of girls and women. In contrast, almost all of Afghanistan’s regional neighbors Afghanistan have recognized the wisdom of engaging with the Islamic Emirate, even without officially recognizing it,” D’Souza said.

And even on issues such as discrimination against women, having “a strong presence in Kabul” would allow India to better influence Taliban policies rather than “taking a sulky and detached stance”, he said. she declared.

New Delhi wants to minimize threats

Ajay Bisaria, former high commissioner to Pakistan, believes that the presence of an Afghan official in Mumbai will be of practical help to the Afghan community, which lacks any representative to deal with issues concerning their home country.

“This is part of India’s policy of calibrated and pragmatic engagement with the de facto rulers of Afghanistan. India has a technical team in place in Kabul and has engaged repeatedly at the official level with the Taliban,” Bisaria told DW.

According to him, India’s minimum expectation would be that the Taliban do not take any action that could threaten India’s security as they did in the 1990s and ideally also protect the interests of India in Afghanistan.

Iran and China have already hosted Taliban envoys

The Afghan embassy in New Delhi ceased operations in October last year. The embassy cited a series of problems, including a lack of cooperation from the Indian government. The previous ambassador, Farid Mamundzay – appointed by the government of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani – left India and never returned, creating a leadership vacuum.

Former Indian ambassador to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra told DW that the latest news about Mumbai’s new ambassador represents a concrete and pragmatic decision.

“Taliban-Pakistan relations are strained. And Iran and China have allowed the Taliban to operate embassies in Tehran and Beijing. So it makes sense for us to leverage our national interest,” Dharmendra said.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic