India’s connection with Afghanistan is one of the oldest in South Asia. It began long before modern borders were invented. Yet, this civilisational bond has been tested again and again – by empire, partition, the Cold War, and today’s shifting geopolitics. The recent visit of Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to New Delhi in the second week of October was not just another diplomatic engagement. It reflected how old ties are being reworked in a new regional setting marked by uncertainty and change.

Trade and culture linked the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan as far back as the Indus Valley Civilisation. Under Emperor Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire extended to Kandahar. His edicts, inscribed in Greek on Afghan rocks, show how these regions once formed part of a shared cultura

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