There is something wrong with New Delhi’s Afghan policy which is fashioned to play to the gallery. The reason why the Indian government is attending talks at an international conference with the Taliban in Moscow only in an unofficial capacity is to posture to the domestic audience. Washington, Moscow and Beijing are talking to the Taliban. Why should India stay away? The Afghan government in Kabul is very keen on talking to the Taliban. There is no reason why India should avoid formal talks with the Taliban which can in all probability seize power in Kabul. Delhi has decided to send two retired diplomats to a peace conference convened by Moscow. India seems blind to the fact that the Ghani government in Kabul in losing strength and the Taliban is increasingly gaining more muscle. It maintains that the peace process should be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led and controlled by the Government in Kabul. The Moscow Conference is far from it. At the same time, India cannot negate an invitation from Moscow especially as Washington, Beijing, the Taliban and the Government in Kabul will send participants for the negotiations.
It is high time that the civil war in Afghanistan came to an end. Negotiations are the only way to a resolution of the crisis. New Delhi should be fully aware of the ground realities. It insists that there is no difference between good Taliban and bad Taliban. But the situation has changed. India should go all out to open communications with the Taliban. It does not mean acceptance of the Islamic fundamentalism of the Taliban but only a compromise with imminent changes in Afghanistan. Silence will not pay.
What compelled India to send its two representatives to the Moscow talks is because the Taliban have steadily fortified their control in the Afghan countryside and also because the US, Russia, China and even the Afghan government have all indicated that they are ready to talk with the Taliban.
The importance of the Moscow Format meeting was mainly in its occurrence, and broad-based acknowledgment of the need for a political solution in Afghanistan to bring the 17 year conflict to an end. Interestingly, the Afghan Government has distanced itself from this meeting. At the Moscow meeting the Taliban representatives, led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikza demanded that foreign troops essentially Americans, should leave the country first before talks proceed into an advanced mode. With the present Afghan Government no longer popular it would appear that Afghanistan is headed for tumultuous times.
