India has emerged as the only country to publicly denounce Pakistan's cross-border air strikes on the Afghan provinces of Kunar, Paktia, and Paktika carried out in late June 2025, and continues to raise the issue at the United Nations, according to a report by The Diplomat. New Delhi's lone stance at the UN underscores a significant strategic repositioning toward Taliban-governed Afghanistan at a moment when Islamabad–Kabul relations are at a historic low.

Pakistan's Strikes and the International Silence

Pakistan's air strikes on Afghan territory in late June drew near-universal silence from the international community — with India as the sole exception to publicly condemn the action. New Delhi has maintained its criticism of the strikes at the UN, a posture that sets it apart from other regional and global powers. The strikes were reportedly launched on the grounds that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operates from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, a charge the Taliban administration in Kabul flatly rejects, insisting the TTP is Pakistan's internal problem.

Pakistan–Afghanistan: From Strategic Depth to Strategic Friction

For decades, Pakistan pursued a doctrine of 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan — cultivating a pliant government in Kabul to secure its western flank. That calculus has unravelled since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021. The Taliban regime has since asserted its independence, refused to recognise the Durand Line as a permanent international border, and rejected what it characterises as Pakistani interference in Afghan affairs, according to The Diplomat. Notably, Pakistan was widely regarded as the Taliban's closest ally and principal backer from 1996 until the group's Kabul takeover — making the current rupture all the more consequential.

India's Strategic Recalibration with the Taliban

The report highlights that New Delhi's approach toward the Taliban has undergone a visible strategic recalibration since early 2025. A landmark moment came on 8 January 2025, when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) facilitated a meeting in Dubai between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. The report described the meeting as 'a major diplomatic milestone, as the relationship between New Delhi and Taliban-controlled Kabul began to take a positive turn.'

Prior to that, in November 2024, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Joint Secretary J P Singh had been the senior-most Indian official to hold discussions with Taliban figures, including Muttaqi and Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob.

A String of Taliban Ministerial Visits to India

Diplomatic momentum has since accelerated sharply. In October 2025, Muttaqi travelled to India for a six-day visit — the first by a senior Taliban minister to Indian soil. A UN committee temporarily lifted a travel ban on Muttaqi to enable the trip. Following the visit, India handed over the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi to the Taliban and dispatched a chargé d'affaires to its former mission in Kabul.

In January 2026, the Taliban's senior foreign ministry official, Mufti Noor Ahmad Noor, arrived in New Delhi to assume charge as the chargé d'affaires of the Afghan Embassy. Most recently, Taliban Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Mawlawi Ataullah Omari visited India with a high-level delegation from 7 to 12 July — the fourth ministerial-level visit in the past nine months. The MEA has described the series of engagements as 'reflecting the continued momentum in bilateral engagement.'

What This Means for the Region

India's public condemnation of Pakistan's strikes — and its deepening ties with the Taliban — represent a calculated repositioning in South and Central Asian geopolitics. This comes amid a broader pattern: as Pakistan loses influence in Kabul, India is methodically filling the diplomatic vacuum. Whether the Taliban translates these engagements into concrete cooperation on connectivity, trade, or counter-terrorism remains to be seen.