What makes the game more interesting is that the improvement in ties promised by India, which is reaching out with generous financial aid, ambulances, medical equipment, vaccines and reconstruction support for structures, comes at a time when the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan has hit a new low

xThe intriguing, high-stakes subcontinental game of diplomatic chess just got more players. In a game involving friends, foes, frenemies and prickly neighbours, India made a significant move in normalising relations with the Talban-led government in Afghanistan, its upgrading of its technical mission in Kabul to a full-fledged embassy being the major gambit.

The quick turn of events that came with the current visit of the Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi may have come as a

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