The Geopolitical Story of the India-Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship

If you ask any history teacher about India’s borders, he or she will tell you that the North-West border has always been our most interesting neighbour. Strange things have been happening there since Pakistan was born in 1947. Afghanistan and Pakistan share a long border, believe in the same religion, and even share Pashtun people living on both sides. But they never became real friends. At the same time, there has always been a warm bond between Afghanistan and India, which are separated by Pakistan. Sounds confusing, right? This is the story of how geography can decide friendships and enmities in the most unexpected ways.

Here’s the most ironic part of this whole drama. For decades, Pakistan built the Taliban, trained them, financed them, and eventually helped them capture Kabul in 2021. Pakistan thought they finally had what they always wanted, a friendly neighbor who would listen. But today, just three years later, Pakistan and the Taliban are fighting each other. The Taliban is even reaching out to India for help. Yes, you read that right. The Pakistan-created Taliban is now turning against India, and Pakistan can only watch helplessly from the sidelines. As Foreignpolicy.com recently highlighted, this pattern continues to repeat throughout Afghanistan’s history, no matter who rules Kabul.

Let me take you back to October this year, when new fights broke out on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. While Pakistani soldiers and Taliban fighters were shooting at each other, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was in New Delhi for a week. He openly said that Afghanistan wants stronger relations with India. A few days after his visit, India became one of the first countries to normalize relations with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan by converting its small office in Kabul into a full embassy. India has been saying for years that there is no such thing as “good Taliban” and believed that they were merely puppets of Pakistan. You can imagine how happy India is to see the Taliban moving away from Pakistan.

Why does this keep happening? The answer lies in the border line drawn by the British in 1893, called the Durand Line. This line cut through the areas where Pashtun and Baloch tribes lived, dividing families and communities on both sides. When the British withdrew and Pakistan was established in 1947, this border was inherited by Pakistan. However, Afghanistan did not accept this. In fact, Afghanistan was the only country to vote against Pakistan joining the United Nations. Afghanistan felt they could accept a border drawn by the powerful British Empire, but why would they accept the same line from Pakistan, which they saw as a remnant part of British India?

For decades, Afghanistan has dreamed of creating Pashtunistan, a separate country for all Pashtuns living on both sides of the border. This idea scares Pakistan even today because questioning the Durand Line could tear Pakistan apart. Pakistan’s biggest nightmare is to be caught between two enemies; India on one side and hostile Afghanistan on the other. This fear has guided Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy for more than seven decades.

Pakistan tried to solve this problem by controlling Afghanistan from behind the scenes, just like the British did. Pakistani military rulers supported tribal warriors and Islamist groups, hoping to establish friendly governments in Kabul. But each time, these groups either failed or turned against Pakistan. Pakistan found its golden opportunity when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Pakistan trained thousands of fighters to fight the Soviets with American and Saudi money. Pakistan thought this was a chance to finally eliminate the idea of ​​Pashtunistan and control Afghanistan.

But here’s where things get interesting. When these Pakistan-trained fighters came to power in Kabul in 1992, they immediately began seeking India’s help to protect themselves from Pakistani intervention. When these groups began to fight among themselves, Pakistan supported a new force called the Taliban in the 1990s. In 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul and Pakistan thought it had finally achieved its dream. But even then the Taliban never acted as lackeys of Pakistan.

They showed independence and even openness towards India. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, its relations with Pakistan have completely collapsed. The Taliban is angry that Pakistan is building fences along the Durand Line, forcing Afghan refugees to return and trying to control them. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of hosting the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which attacks Pakistan. Cross-border fever has become normal. The situation has gotten so bad that Pakistan can no longer even talk directly to the Taliban; They need other countries to communicate. Meanwhile, India has been quietly rebuilding its relationship with Kabul since 2021. India sent humanitarian aid and made its position clear: We will help Afghanistan, but you must ensure that your territory is not used for terrorism against India. The Taliban also accepted this.

India is currently assisting Afghanistan through the Chabahar port in Iran and has even started air cargo services, bypassing Pakistan entirely. As foreignpolitik.com points out, India’s approach is based on patience, development assistance and respect for Afghan sovereignty; It’s the exact opposite of Pakistan’s approach.

A symbolic event took place during Muttaki’s visit to India. He visited Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, one of the most important Islamic schools in South Asia. The Deobandi school of thought actually shaped the ideology of the Taliban. There Muttaki was given a religious certificate and the title “Qasmi”. This was important because many of the Taliban leaders were educated in religious schools in Pakistan, especially Darul Uloom Haqqania. By reconnecting with Deoband, the Taliban was sending a clear message to Pakistan: We no longer need you for religious legitimacy.

Pakistan’s tragedy is simple. Pakistan has more influence in Afghanistan than any other country. It could destabilize any government in Kabul. But unlike the British Empire before it, Pakistan does not have the resources or power to exert lasting friendly influence there. Pakistan’s dream of controlling Afghanistan will never come true, but Pakistan cannot stop trying. Pakistan may even try to break up the Taliban or form a new government in Kabul.

However, no matter what Pakistan does, it cannot change the basic geographical and historical reality. The lesson for India is clear. We don’t need to fight Pakistan to gain influence in Afghanistan. Our natural bond with Afghanistan based on respect, friendship and helping them develop will always pull Kabul towards Delhi. Afghanistan is a country for Pakistan to lose, and now Pakistan is losing it spectacularly. As students of history and current events, you are following a pattern that has been repeated for seventy-five years. Geography has once again determined fate, and the North-West frontier continues to shape the future of South Asia in the most unexpected ways.

(Girish Linganna is an award-winning science communicator and Defense, Aerospace and Geopolitical Analyst. He is the Managing Director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany)

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above belong to the author and do not reflect the views of DNA)