India’s Dangerous Descent: From Taliban Outreach to Sheltering Hasina’s Exiled Network

Reading Time: 3 minutes India’s recent attempts to establish discreet communication channels with the Taliban have raised growing concern across South Asia’s strategic community. What New Delhi presents as pragmatic diplomacy increasingly appears to be a symptom of anxiety and regional isolation. As India seeks to outmanoeuvre Pakistan—and now Bangladesh—its covert engagement with extremist actors and political exiles marks a troubling descent in foreign policy conduct, with implications for the entire region. India’s Strategic Dilemma in Afghanistan Since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, India has found itself sidelined in a country where it once exercised substantial influence under the US-backed Afghan Republic. The fall of Ashraf Ghani’s government dismantled New Delhi’s multi-billion-dollar soft-power network, built through infrastructure projects, training, and intelligence collaboration. For decades, India leveraged Afghanistan as a counterbalance to Pakistan—cultivating intelligence access, recruiting local proxies, and tracking cross-border movements. The Taliban’s resurgence erased that influence, leaving India