On Saturday, when the Indian ambassador to Qatar, P. Kumaran, attends the signing of the US peace deal with the Taliban in Doha, he will not only be a witness to history, but will also be making it. This is the first time that India will be officially present at an international event with the Taliban, a significant shift in the Indian position, which has so far been to keep away from any dealings with the Taliban.
With the Taliban now firmly in the saddle for any peace in Afghanistan, India will have no choice but to accept the reality. This will be the first time that a serving Indian official will be present—even if it is just to “observe'' as sources put it—with the Taliban after the Kandahar hijacking. The invitation extended to India is a nod to the success of India's soft power diplomacy. It is also important as Pakistan too will have its representative at the signing of the deal.
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While India might not have any leverage with the Taliban, its presence at the signing of the deal is a public declaration of India's importance as a net security provider in the region. It is also the first public acknowledgement of the Indian government changing its decade-old position on the Taliban. In 2018, India was invited to be in the same room as the Taliban in the Moscow talks format. An “unofficial'' delegation of two—Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs, and former ambassador to Pakistan, T.C.A Raghavan and former ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha—were chosen to represent India at the meeting. The brief was clear, India was there only to observe, not to participate.
Ahead of the official signing, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla travelled to Kabul to meet top leaders. This will be the first time that Shringla will be meeting President Ashraf Ghani, who was declared the winner of the presidential elections last year only recently (His main opponent former CEO Abdullah Abdullah has refused to accept the results). Shringla's mission in Kabul will be to convey India's commitment to an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process that results in a sustainable peace.” So far, the elected Afghan government, too, has been kept out of the negotiations while the Taliban have refused to deal with a “puppet'' government. How the deal will impact the recent elections remains to be seen.
Like the Indian government, the Afghan government too is sending a team to, hopefully, make the first tentative contact with the Taliban. The deal, which paves the way for an early pull out for America, is only the beginning of a long road to peace. The toughest part of the negotiations begin now—the intra-Afghan talks—which can take years.
