UN Sanctions: Geopolitical Implications
Context: The postponement of Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s India visit highlights how UN sanctions frameworks intersect with regional geopolitics, where Pakistan’s role in blocking waivers directly affects India’s outreach to Afghanistan.
What are UN Security Council sanctions and their objectives?
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions are legally binding measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security. They include travel bans, asset freezes, and arms embargoes. Specifically, the 1988 Sanctions Committee oversees restrictions on Taliban leaders to prevent them from accessing resources or mobility that could destabilise Afghanistan or the region, while allowing exemptions only for humanitarian or diplomatic purposes.
How do they impact India’s diplomatic engagement and regional geopolitics?
- Diplomatic Constraint: The sanctions regime makes it difficult for India to formally host Taliban leaders, limiting diplomatic flexibility.
- Geopolitical Competition: Pakistan, by chairing the sanctions committee, obstructs Taliban-India dialogue, preserving its leverage in Kabul. Meanwhile, China’s outreach to the Taliban, including infrastructure projects, adds competitive pressure on India.
- Regional Stability: Sanctions affect the overall security and political stability of Afghanistan, influencing India’s regional connectivity projects (like Chabahar port) and wider South Asian strategic calculus.
India must balance Afghanistan ties with adherence to international sanctions to maintain global credibility and avoid diplomatic isolation. India’s talks with Muttaqi in Dubai (2025) and Jaishankar’s phone diplomacy show how India uses alternative venues to sustain dialogue despite restrictions.
What is India’s broader approach towards Taliban 2.0?
Despite not recognising the Taliban regime, India has adopted a pragmatic engagement strategy:
- Reopened its Kabul mission in 2022
- Operation Devi Shakti evacuation
- Humanitarian Assistance: 50,000 MT wheat, medicines, and vaccines sent through UN agencies (MEA, 2022).
- Developmental Role: Exploring Afghan trade links via Chabahar Port to bypass Pakistan.
- Security Assurance: Taliban assurances that Afghan soil will not be used by anti-India terror groups, including condemnation of the 2024 Pahalgam terror attack.
This calibrated engagement reflects India’s aim to balance humanitarian commitments, secure connectivity projects, and counter Pakistan-China influence while awaiting international clarity on Taliban legitimacy.
How does it strengthen India’s quest for a permanent seat in UNSC?
- Exposure of Non-Permanent Limitations: India currently serves only as a non-permanent member for two-year terms, without veto power.
- The Taliban sanctions case shows how India, despite being directly affected, cannot decisively shape outcomes when the UNSC 1988 Committee functions by consensus.
- Regional rivals like Pakistan can exploit procedural leverage to obstruct India’s strategic interests.
- India’s Credentials as a Global Power: As the world’s largest democracy, India represents voices from the Global South, including that of Afghanis in a way that the existing P5 structure does not.
- Institutional Reform Imperative: Economic Survey 2023-24 (High-Level Committee on Reforms): Stresses that without expanding membership, the UNSC risks becoming unrepresentative and ineffective in addressing today’s crises.
- India’s inability to override the Taliban travel ban, despite being a frontline stakeholder in Afghan stability, exemplifies how current structures undermine regional problem-solving.
- Strategic Relevance for Global Governance: India sits at the crossroads of major geopolitical theatres — South Asia, Indo-Pacific, and West Asia — giving it a unique perspective on security and development challenges.
A permanent seat would allow India to institutionalise its role in shaping sanctions regimes, counter-terrorism measures, and humanitarian frameworks directly affecting its neighbourhood.
