News Analysis | Multi-track strategy: India ‘engages Taliban’, but questions Pakistan’s support to militant group

Jaishankar to share detailed assessment of Afghanistan future with Blinken

India is engaging all stakeholders in Afghanistan, including some parts of the Taliban, as part of a “multi-track” strategy necessitated by the advance of the Taliban militants on the ground, according to official sources, who for the first time confirmed the talks are ongoing. The talks with the militant group don’t dilute India’s concerns over the Taliban’s recent military gains, and Pakistan’s support to Taliban fighters, but signify that a negotiated power-sharing agreement is now seen as the “best case scenario” for Afghanistan. “We support the Afghan government. We deal with them irrespective of who is in power. We are in constant touch with Afghan leaders from all ethnic backgrounds. We have participated at the Doha [conference inauguration] and later on also have been in meetings [with the Taliban]. We believe Afghans deserve peace, and if we have to be in touch with all stakeholders and regional countries, we will be,” the sources explained. According to the government’s latest assessment, the Taliban is attempting to acquire territory to the South and border posts of Afghanistan, and will accelerate its efforts to take major cities once the U.S. completes its pull-out of troops at the end of August. In particular, the assessment has found that while the Taliban holds territory considerably less than media speculation of “85%”, and pegs its reach to only about “45-50%”, it is in a position to establish control of one or more of the Southern provinces including Kandahar, Helmand, Ghazni and Paktia.