- India has officially opposed President Donald Trump’s calls for the U.S. to regain control of the strategic Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan
- The opposition was formalized in a joint statement at the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan
- The statement described the deployment of foreign military infrastructure in Afghanistan as “unacceptable”
- The move comes just ahead of the Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister’s scheduled visit to New Delhi
India has aligned itself with a consensus that includes long-standing rivals like China and Pakistan, to officially oppose the push by President Donald Trump for the United States to retake control of Afghanistan’s strategically vital Bagram Air Base.
The unusual geopolitical alignment highlights an important and pragmatic change in New Delhi attitude to the multifaceted security and political game in the Central Asian region..
The Moscow Declaration Against Foreign Military Infrastructure
The joint stance was officially adopted after the 7th Meeting Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan, a large regional diplomatic forum. The conference included special envoys and top officials of ten countries, such as India, Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, and Central Asian countries. Afghan delegation, led by Taliban appointed Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, also participated as a full member for the first time.
The final joint statement from the meeting, though without naming the U.S. or Bagram, directly addressed the outrage aroused resident Trump latest demands. The participants “called the attempts unacceptable by countries to deploy their military infrastructure in Afghanistan and neighboring states,” reported by The Indian Express.
The statement directly countered the former U.S. President’s demands made through his Truth Social site, who ordered the Taliban to deliver the massive facility, or bad things would happen in case the base was not handed back. The demand was promptly denied by the Taliban government, and a Taliban spokesperson said, that Afghans would never allow their land to be given to anybody under any condition.
India’s Strategic Rationale for Convergence
The primary concern for India is that the Afghan soil should not be a sanctuary or launchpad for terrorist activities against its interests or its neighbors. The bid to ensure that Afghan soil must not used by the terror groups to launch external attacks was specifically reiterated in the joint statement, Reported by NDTV.
The joint opposition of the Bagram takeover comes days before the visit of the Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister Muttaqi to India. New Delhi has not yet officially recognized to Taliban government, still, it is actively interacting with Kabul through humanitarian aid as well as development assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
This move to counter the U.S. bid for Bagram has a variety of diplomatic purposes. First, it reinforces the New Delhi agenda of “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned” resolution. It also provides some goodwill towards the current government in Kabul and the regional consensus.
Besides, the Moscow Format joint statement strongly supported the “active integration of Afghanistan into the system of regional connectivity” and the collaboration in economic projects. This is in line with the long term strategic interest of India to open its multi-alignment foreign policy by developing the Chabahar port in Iran as an important trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia, as reported by The Times of India.
Unmatched Geopolitical Value of Bagram
The Bagram Air Base, situated 50 kilometers north of Kabul, has got immense geopolitical worth. It was the largest and most vital U.S military installation in the 2-decade long war because it had two long concrete runways. It is a strategic location and it is immense in size, making it unmatched logistically and in intelligence across South and Central Asia.
The U.S President has reiterated the importance of Bagram various times because it is very close to sensitive Chinese military installations in the Xinjiang region.
