About the event

Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan shocked the world. For India, the house-of-cards collapse of the 20-year-old Afghan democracy represents a strategic setback.

Does this mean an end of trade relations with Afghanistan, a critical strategic ally for India in South Asia? The Indian government has made significant investments in the war-torn country over the past two decades and provided the government with much-needed developmental assistance in terms of investments and bilateral trade. The Taliban seizing control in Afghanistan presents a bleak future for such projects in Afghanistan. Moreover, India has not had a working relationship with the Taliban in the past.

While India is currently following the ‘wait and watch’ approach, the bigger question is whether India should engage with the Taliban now?

Hear all about it from our expert panellists in this Let’s Talk Policy session – Navtej Sarna, Former Diplomat & Author, Suhasini Haider, Diplomatic Affair Editor, The Hindu, Amitabh Mattoo, Professor of International Relations at JNU & University of Melbourne and Dr. Shanthie Mariet D’Souza, Founding Professor, Kautilya.

The event was moderated by renowned journalist, Nidhi Razdan.