India's latest diplomatic outreach to Afghanistan's Taliban government signals a marked shift in how it sees the geopolitical reality in the region. This comes more than three years after India suffered a major strategic and diplomatic blow when Kabul fell to the Taliban.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has met Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, India’s highest-level contact yet with the regime since it came to power in 2021. The meeting was the culmination of the incremental progress of India’s policy of ‘cautious engagement’ with the Taliban – how has it negotiated the relationship over the last three and a half years?

According to the Pakistani analyst, India’s “courting of the Taliban regime appears to be working.” He pointed to a statement issued by the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hours after the Dubai meeting, which spoke of Muttaqi’s “desire of strengthening political & economic relations with India as a key regional and economic player.”

India and Afghanistan have taken a significant step in securing their first high-level bilateral engagement. No foreign government, including India, officially recognizes the Taliban regime.