Thomas West, the newly-appointed US Special Representative for Afghanistan, visited New Delhi today on a whistle-stop tour.
He called on National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harshvardhan Shringla.
The discussions, sources said, focused on the recent developments in Afghanistan. They spoke about the recently-held Regional Security Dialogue of NSAs on Afghanistan in New Delhi, the movement of people in and out of Afghanistan, coordinating global efforts on humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, regional security issues, and other bilateral and international issues of mutual interest.
West took over from Donald Trump-appointed Zalmay Khalizad last month, and is visiting stakeholders in Europe and South Asia. He is scheduled to visit Russia next. He was in Pakistan last week.
Post the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, India's role in the country has diminished in relevance. India had given infrastructural and capacity building help to the country over the past two decades, including road building and the Salma Dam. The Shehtoot Dam discussions were getting cleared when the regime changed.
India had also invested deeply in the alternate access to Afghanistan, via the Chabahar Port in Iran.
The future of planned and ongoing projects is uncertain. Both India and Taliban seem to be taking each other's measure. India has had one meeting with Taliban representatives in Doha, when India's ambassador to Qatar met them after the Kabul takeover.
India's prime concern is the security situation in the region. Last week, Indian officials met security officials from Russia, Iran and the five Central Asian Republics, to discuss regional security issues, especially the possibility of radicalism and terror spreading from Afghanistan.
They signed the Delhi Declaration later, calling on Taliban to ensure an inclusive government, and that Afghan soil is not used for terror activities targeted against its neighbours.
Pakistan and China did not attend the meet. Islamabad turned down the invite, while Beijing made scheduling excuses. Taliban representatives have, several times now, announced that they will not allow the Afghan soil to be used to target any other nation. Their past record, however, does not inspire confidence in such statements.
