India-Afghanistan relations: Growing India-Kabul ties to rattle Islamabad?

In a push for deepening diplomatic and economic ties, India's newly appointed chargé d'affaires Yatin Patel met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul to expand bilateral cooperation. Muttaqi congratulated Yatin Patel on taking up his assignment, emphasizing that the Taliban administration highly values its relations with New Delhi. The Taliban foreign minister highlighted increasing trade between the two nations and urged closer public-private sector collaboration to maximize economic potential. Patel affirmed that India intends to broaden its engagement with the administration across political, economic and humanitarian fields. Over the past two decades, India has been a major partner in Afghanistan's development, funding critical infrastructure, healthcare and education initiatives. While many projects were stalled after the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, India has progressively restored diplomatic engagement, humanitarian aid and select development cooperation. This meeting builds on prior high-level contact, including Muttaki's historic visit to India in October 2025, where he met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and visited the Darul Uloom Deoband Seminary. This warming relations also raises questions on Islamabad's regional calculus, which once backed the Taliban's takeover to secure strategic depth, but now faces frequent cross-border fire with its western neighbor, sandwiched between two civilizational powers. But Pakistan watches with growing anxiety as Kabul and New Delhi vow greater economic engagement.