The week-long visit of Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India has laid bare a deep diplomatic embarrassment for New Delhi and a desperate bid for legitimacy by the Taliban regime. The trip the first by any Taliban official to India since the group’s violent takeover of Kabul in 2021 has triggered a protocol crisis that starkly exposes the contradictions in India’s foreign policy.
Indian media reports reveal that officials in New Delhi are grappling with an awkward symbolic standoff over whether the Taliban’s white flag, inscribed with the Shahada, should be displayed alongside India’s national flag during official engagements. Diplomatic norms require such parallel flag displays during high-level meetings, yet India’s refusal to recognise the Taliban government has turned this basic formality into a test of New Delhi’s credibility and consistency.
While India publicly insists that it does not acknowledge the Taliban’s rule, the visit of a sanctioned Taliban minister underlines New Delhi’s quiet but undeniable political engagement with the group it once condemned. Analysts say the development exposes India’s double standards attempting to preserve the façade of non-recognition while secretly courting the Taliban to secure its regional influence and counter Pakistan’s strategic depth in Afghanistan.
At the same time, the Taliban’s willingness to seek meetings in a country that denies its legitimacy reflects its own diplomatic vulnerability and eagerness for recognition. The group’s leadership, isolated internationally and struggling to govern an economy in collapse, is seen clutching at any opportunity to appear accepted on the world stage even by a state that refuses to raise its flag.
During previous interactions, the Taliban had insisted on using their flag, while Indian officials had resorted to avoiding flag displays altogether. But with the meeting now on Indian soil, New Delhi finds itself trapped between its rhetoric and its realpolitik unwilling to legitimise the Taliban, yet equally unwilling to alienate a force that controls Afghanistan.
Muttaqi’s visit follows a UN travel exemption, enabling him to travel despite international sanctions. He is expected to meet Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to discuss trade and political matters. However, observers note that the talks will carry little diplomatic weight, given that India’s engagement remains unofficial and politically self-serving, driven largely by its concerns over China’s growing presence in the region.
India had closed its Kabul embassy following the Taliban’s 2021 takeover, reopening a limited “technical mission” a year later under the pretext of humanitarian aid. Yet behind the scenes, intelligence and diplomatic exchanges have quietly resumed a stark contrast to New Delhi’s public posture of isolation.
Meanwhile, the Taliban continues to face widespread condemnation for suppressing women’s rights, targeting minorities, and sheltering extremist networks, all while seeking legitimacy from countries it once denounced as “infidel powers.”
Ironically, both sides stand exposed India for its selective morality and opportunistic diplomacy, and the Taliban for its unabashed quest for acceptance from a nation that refuses to even recognise its flag.
The visit, which follows Muttaqi’s recent participation in a Moscow regional conference attended by Pakistan, Iran, China, and Central Asian states, underscores a shifting regional dynamic one where India’s contradictions and the Taliban’s desperation converge on the same table of political expediency.
