Former Pakistani Envoy Warns of Impact of Russia-India Ties with Taliban on Islamabad
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special envoy for Afghanistan, has warned about the impact of growing cooperation by Russia and India with the Taliban administration. He said the trend could reduce the leverage Islamabad holds over Kabul and alter the region’s diplomatic equations.
In an article published in Arab News, Durrani said Russia’s change in approach towards the Taliban and its description of the group as a “national government” were signs of significant shifts in Moscow’s policy. Russia, which in July 2025 became the first country in the world to formally recognize the Taliban government, has now changed its stance.
The Pakistani diplomat also pointed to India’s expanding engagement with Kabul, saying stronger ties between the two regional powers and the Taliban could bolster the group’s international standing. He stressed that this would make the Taliban less flexible in the face of Islamabad’s security pressure.
Referring to UN reports on the presence in Afghanistan of militant groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Islamic State Khorasan Province and al Qaeda, Durrani said Russia has so far not pursued the Taliban’s fight against these groups in the Security Council as a tool of political pressure.
The former Pakistani envoy warned that if the Taliban do not respond appropriately to Pakistan’s security concerns, Islamabad will be forced to review its policy toward Kabul. He said regional relations should be shaped by clear and assessable security realities, not simply by choosing between engagement and confrontation.
Durrani concluded by stressing that if regional cooperation to prevent Afghan soil from being used against neighboring countries gives way to bilateral interests, the Moscow format may lose its core purpose and the region’s diplomatic balance toward Afghanistan could shift.
