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Taliban sends first envoy to India in diplomatic milestone as regional tensions reshape alliances
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Nearly five years after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Kabul has appointed its first envoy to India, marking a significant milestone in diplomatic engagement between the two countries.
Noor Ahmad Noor, a Taliban-appointed diplomat, has assumed responsibility as Chargé d’Affaires at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi, the first such posting to India since the Taliban returned to power more than four years ago. The move is the latest step in cultivating goodwill, as India’s role evolves in Afghanistan.
Taliban security personnel walk past a damaged car after cross-border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Getty Images)
The renewed political and economic engagement with the Taliban comes at a time of surging cross-border violence between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has plunged relations between the two neighbors to a dangerously low point. Just this week, tensions flared back up after a fresh round of deadly strikes and clashes. And nuclear-armed India wasted no time in strongly condemning Islamabad over the attacks and voiced support for Kabul’s sovereignty.
Against this backdrop of sustained hostilities, India stands out as one country that has much to gain. Experts say India’s reset with the Taliban reflects a pragmatic policy, aimed at countering Pakistani influence while protecting its own long-term security interests in the region.
“This is a classic case of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’” Sid Dubey, a visiting professor at Bennet University in India, told Fox News. “The only thing the two parties are mutually aligned on is Pakistan and the enmity both have toward the Islamic Republic.”
Kabul’s rapidly deteriorating relationship with Islamabad factors heavily into India’s calculations. For decades, Pakistan sought what it called “strategic depth” in Afghanistan, backing Taliban factions to ensure a friendly government in Kabul. But now, as frictions rise over border disputes, closer coordination between India and Afghanistan stretches Pakistan’s capacity to manage tensions on multiple fronts.
At the same time, analysts say, it gives India the opportunity to extend its influence in the region at the expense of another rival, China. Furthermore, Pakistan buffers India and Afghanistan, making strategic alignment between New Delhi and Kabul particularly significant.
TRUMP: US TRYING TO GET BAGRAM AIRBASE ‘BACK’ FROM TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN
Eastern Afghanistan shares a border with India’s neighbor Pakistan. (AP Photo)
“Afghanistan is cursed by its geography and proximity to foreign powers who will always meddle,” Dubey explains, as regional fault lines only continue to sharpen. “And with virtually no American influence on the Taliban government anymore, Delhi feels secure in going ahead with its own India-centric Afghan policy.”
Like most other countries, India does not formally recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, both nations have been taking a series of quiet but significant steps to deepen ties. Over the last year, several high-level diplomatic interactions have been billed as groundbreaking. Cooperation has expanded across the board, from healthcare and humanitarian aid to cultural exchanges and economic projects.
Dubey claims there’s another big reason for Delhi’s push. “India supports all this in the hope or understanding that one day, if needed, India can use Afghanistan as a platform to strike Pakistan.”
Indian soldiers stand guard as a Kashmiri Muslim man walks by, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) (AP)
For its part, Kabul is embracing this new era of cooperation, hailing the stronger ties with India as Pakistan views these developments with deep suspicion. Engagement with India also offers the Taliban a measure of legitimacy on the world stage.
As Dubey noted, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, heavily dependent on external assistance, making India’s aid extremely beneficial.
Anand Prakash, Joint Secretary of the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) Division at India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Afghanistan’s Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Member of Rajya Sabha and an Indian entrepreneur participate in a roundtable at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi, India, Oct. 13, 2025. (Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)
If sustained, India’s growing engagement with the Taliban could reshape changing regional dynamics. A weakened Pakistan-Taliban relationship undercuts Islamabad’s long-standing leverage in Kabul, altering the formerly established balance of power. It also complicates China’s calculus, as Beijing weighs its own security concerns.
Looking further ahead, if Washington again expands its involvement in Afghanistan, New Delhi could serve as a key intermediary, given that U.S. and Indian ties are also on an upward trajectory.
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Kim Jong Un calls for North Korea to build 2 large warships per year in major naval expansion push: report
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday called for a major expansion of the country’s naval forces, suggesting the regime should build two large warships each year for the next five years.
Speaking at a commissioning ceremony for a new destroyer, Kim suggested North Korea should build two warships comparable in size to its 5,000-ton Choe Hyon-class vessel each year over the next five years, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim was celebrating the deployment of the new multipurpose destroyer at the port of Nampho. In April, he observed launches of two cruise missiles and three anti-ship missiles from the vessel.
The destroyer successfully completed military operational tests over the past 14 months, according to KCNA.
KIM JONG UN OVERSEES CRUISE MISSILE LAUNCHES FROM PRIZED NEW NORTH KOREAN WARSHIP
North Korea launched two cruise missiles and three anti-ship missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon, April 12, according to North Korean state media. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP)
Kim previously hailed the development of the Choe Hyon as a major step toward expanding the operational reach and preemptive strike capabilities of North Korea’s military.
Kim also said the navy’s nuclearization is “advancing along its own course,” contributing to the country’s nuclear deterrence.
The naval buildup comes as Kim seeks to strengthen what analysts have long viewed as one of the weaker branches of North Korea’s military.
NORTH KOREA RELAUNCHES WARSHIP THAT SUFFERED EMBARRASSING FAILURE DURING INITIAL LAUNCH
The new multipurpose destroyer Choe Hyon during its commissioning ceremony at Nampho port, North Korea, Tuesday. (KCNA via REUTERS)
KCNA reported that Kim intends to deploy another 5,000-ton destroyer, the Kang Kon, along with larger 10,000-ton strategic warships.
The Kang Kon was first unveiled in May of last year but was damaged during a failed launch at the northern port city of Chongjin. The vessel was later relaunched following repairs.
By adding new capabilities, North Korea’s navy would become “something incredible beyond imagination,” Kim said.
NORTH KOREA RELEASES IMAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINE
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during the commissioning ceremony of the new multipurpose destroyer Choe Hyon at Nampho port, North Korea, Tuesday. (KCNA via Reuters)
“Building a modernized naval base has emerged as a desperate and essential task,” he added.
State media reported that Kim is also reviewing plans to construct new naval bases.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observes strategic cruise and anti-warship missiles test-fired from the destroyer Choe Hyon, April 12. (Korean Central News Agency/Reuters)
Speaking during a meeting of the Workers’ Party’s Central Committee on Monday, Kim said the navy would undergo changes to its status, role and scope of operations.
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He did not elaborate on what those changes would entail.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond and Reuters contributed to this report.
Global Sumud Flotilla group says six others remain in detention and are expected to be released within 24 hours.
Published On 24 Jun 2026
Four pro-Palestinian campaigners detained in Libya for about a month have been released, the Global Sumud Flotilla group has said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the organisation said Achraf Khoja from Tunisia, Matias Rodriguez from Uruguay, and Domenico Centrone and Leonarda Alberizia, both from Italy, had all arrived in Tunis. Six others are expected to be released in the next 24 hours, it added.
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In an earlier statement, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani welcomed the news of the released Italians, saying the two, along with Rodriguez, who has Italian citizenship, were handed over to Italy’s consul in Benghazi. They will return to Italy on Wednesday, he said on X.
More than 400 activists were arrested last month in international waters on board dozens of vessels while sailing towards Gaza to break a siege imposed on the enclave by Israel.
The activists held in Libya were part of a separate group which tried to reach the strip by land. They had staged a hunger strike in protest at their detention, the Global Sumud Flotilla said.
According to Amnesty International, on May 24, 2026, an armed group affiliated with Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), which is allied to the de facto authorities in eastern and southern Libya, the Libyan National Army, arrested the 10 humanitarian activists from eight different countries as they were en route to the city of Sirte to negotiate the convoy’s passage with local authorities.
The activists were seeking approval from the authorities for the convoy to continue the journey through Libya and Egypt to reach Gaza.
“Following periods of enforced disappearance ranging from two to nine days, prosecutors interrogated them before ordering their pretrial detention pending investigations into charges of ‘assembly without authorization,’” Amnesty said.
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