The Taliban is an Afghan Islamist political and militant movement which has ruled Afghanistan under a theocratic emirate several times in the last 30 years. In August 2021, the Taliban took control of the country, and subsequently established a new government that as of 2025 only the Russian Federation recognizes.
Historic relations The Taliban were supported by several militant outfits which include the Haqqani network, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Several countries like China, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia allegedly supported the Taliban during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). However, all of their governments deny providing any support to the Taliban. Likewise, the Taliban also deny receiving any foreign support from any country. It is designated by some countries as a terrorist organization.
During its first time in power (1996–2001), at its height ruling 90% of Afghanistan, the Taliban regime, also known as the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan". The most other nations and organizations, including the United Nations, recognised the Islamic State of Afghanistan (1992–2002), represented by the Northern Alliance, as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. At its peak, formal diplomatic recognition of the Taliban's government was acknowledged by three nations: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Turkmenistan was the only Central Asian country at the time that maintained contact with the Taliban. The Taliban once supported the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. In the past, Pakistan also alleged to have provided support to the Taliban. Regarding its relations with the rest of the world, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan held a policy of isolationism: "The Taliban believe in non-interference in the affairs of other countries and similarly desire no outside interference in their country's internal affairs".
Traditionally, the Taliban were supported by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, while Iran, Russia, Turkey, India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan formed an anti-Taliban alliance and supported the Northern Alliance. After the fall of the Taliban régime at the end of 2001, the composition of the Taliban supporters changed. According to a study by scholar Antonio Giustozzi, in the years 2005 to 2015 most of the financial support came from the states Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, and Qatar, as well as from private donors from Saudi Arabia, from al-Qaeda and, for a short period of time, from the Islamic State. About 54 percent of the funding came from foreign governments, 10 percent from private donors from abroad, and 16 percent from al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. In 2014, the amount of external support was close to $900 million.
Countries
Since the Taliban took over the Afghan government, countries including China, Russia, and the United States have contacted Taliban representatives, but have expressed doubts about its commitment to counterterrorism. Border clashes between the Taliban forces with Pakistan, Iran and Turkmenistan have also caused friction with Afghanistan's neighbours. Taliban-led administration has set up a consortium of companies, including some in Russia, Iran and Pakistan, to create an investment plan focusing on power, mining and infrastructure in February 2023.
China China has been believed to have unofficial relations with the Taliban according to Malek Setiz, international relations adviser to the former Foreign Ministry of Afghanistan. The Chinese foreign ministry has not denied these interactions. Despite Beijing's repeated calls for the Taliban to maintain its commitment to the international community, China has maintained official engagement with the Afghan interim government after the Taliban regained power.
Afghan Ambassador to China Bilal Karimi presented his credentials to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping in January 2024, making China the first country to accept credentials from Taliban diplomats.
India India unofficially recognizes the Taliban régime in Afghanistan. India also maintained close strategic and military ties with the Northern Alliance so as to contain the rise of the Taliban during the 1990s. India was one of the closest allies of the former Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah and it strongly condemned his public execution by the Taliban. Pakistan and Kashmir-based militant groups which are thought to have ties with the Taliban have historically been involved in the Kashmir insurgency and they have frequently attacked Indian security forces.Pigott, Peter. Canada in Afghanistan: The War So Far. Toronto: Dundurn Press Ltd, 2007. , . P. 54.
In December 1999, Indian Airlines Flight 814 was hijacked and flown to Kandahar while it was en route from Kathmandu to Delhi. The Taliban moved its militias near the hijacked aircraft, supposedly to prevent Indian special forces from storming the aircraft, and they stalled the negotiations between India and the hijackers for several days. The New York Times later reported that there were credible links between the hijackers and the Taliban. As a part of the deal to free the plane, India released three militants. The Taliban granted the hijackers and the released militants safe passage.
Following the hijacking, India drastically increased its efforts to help Massoud, providing an arms depot in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. India also provided a wide range of high-altitude warfare equipment, helicopter technicians, medical services, and tactical advice. According to one report, Indian military support to anti-Taliban forces totalled US$70 million, including five Mil Mi-17 helicopters, and US$8 million worth of high-altitude equipment in 2001. India extensively supported the new administration in Afghanistan, leading several reconstruction projects and by 2001 had emerged as the country's largest regional donor.Sreedhar, T., "India's Afghan policy" (7 March 2003), The Hindu, Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs. Retrieved 10 September 2013.Bedi, Rahul,, (15 March 2001), Jane's Intelligence Review, archived from the original on 16 February 2006.
In the wake of terrorist attacks in India, the Indian government has claimed that fundamentalist organisations such as the Taliban are seeking to expand their activities in India. During the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup which was co-hosted in India, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Interpol chief Ronald Noble revealed that a terrorist bid to disrupt the tournament had been foiled; following a conference with Noble, Malik said that the Taliban had begun to base their activities in India with reports from neighbouring countries exposing their activities in the country and stating that a Sri Lankan terrorist who was planning to target cricketers was arrested in Colombo. In 2009, the Times of India called for India to reassess the Taliban threat.
In 2012, the Taliban said that they want to have cordial relations with India, and they praised India for resisting US calls for more military involvement in Afghanistan. After the fall of the Indian-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, India did not recognize the Taliban since their rise to power in August 2021. The Indian government approached Taliban representatives in Doha in September 2021.
The country’s stance has been cautious, primarily focusing on addressing the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people. Recently, the Taliban authorities sought India’s aid for Afghanistan’s economic revival. India has maintained a "technical team" presence in Kabul and started allowing Taliban diplomatic staff in New Delhi in November 2023.
Iran
Iran has historically been an enemy of the Taliban. However, after relations between the two sides soured with the United States, Iranian officials called the Taliban one of its allies' "Axis of Resistance".
In early August 1998, after attacking the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Taliban-allied forces massacred thousands of people in retaliation against the anti-Taliban warlords, and killed 11 Iranian diplomats in the Iranian consulate. Alleged radio intercepts indicate Mullah Omar personally approved the killings.. In the following crisis between Iran and the Taliban, the Iranian government amassed up to 70,000 regular troops on the Afghan-Iranian border. War was eventually averted.
Many US senior military officials such as Robert Gates, Stanley McChrystal, David Petraeus and others believe that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was involved in helping the Taliban to a certain extent during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Reports in which NATO states accused Iran of supplying and training some Taliban insurgents started coming forward since 2004/2005. While not confirmed, the U.S. maintains that Iran supported the Taliban during the War in Afghanistan,Multiple Sources:
Iran still supporting Afghan insurgency-U.S. Reuters 23 November 2010 Iran accused of supporting Afghan insurgents and also assessed that Iran paid bounties to the Taliban splinter group known as the Haqqani network.
Several sources attest to an improving relationship between the Taliban and Iran during the 2010s. This included leadership changes within the Taliban itself: The Taliban's second emir, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, particularly sought to expand ties with Iran, until he was killed by a U.S. drone strike on a return trip from Iran to Pakistan. Pro-Iran media outlets have also reported that the Taliban has included Shia Hazara fighters into its ranks. The Taliban have condemned Islamic State-linked attacks on the Hazara Shia minority. In August 2019, The Washington Post reported that Iran's "relationship with the Taliban now spans the economic, security and political realms and is likely to grow as the Taliban asserts itself again."
In August 2020, US intelligence officials assessed that Iran had offered bounties to the Taliban-linked Haqqani network to kill foreign servicemembers, including Americans, in Afghanistan in 2019. US intelligence determined that Iran paid bounties to Taliban insurgents for the 2019 attack on Bagram airport. According to CNN, Donald Trump's administration has "never mentioned Iran's connection to the bombing, an omission current and former officials said was connected to the broader prioritization of the peace agreement and withdrawal from Afghanistan."
In January 2020, the Taliban condemned the US killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and hailed Soleimani as a "great warrior". During the 2021 Taliban offensive, Iran had to close its consulates, but its embassy in Kabul remains open after the Taliban's takeover. Pro-Taliban stance among Iranian Principlists sparks rift with other Iranians. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said "revive life, security and lasting peace" in Afghanistan after the US ‘defeat’. But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh strongly condemned the Taliban assault on the Panjshir Valley. Despite this, the two theocratic governments have strengthened bilateral strategic cooperation to combat terrorist organizations such as IS–KP, and respond to western sanctions.
Pakistan
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, leader of the Pakistani Islamic (Deobandi) political party Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (F) (JUI), was an ally of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani prime minister in 1993–1996, and then had access to the Pakistani government, army and the ISI, whom he influenced to help the Taliban.. The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has since 1994 heavily supported the Taliban, while the group conquered most of Afghanistan in 1994–98.'The Taliban'. Mapping Militant Organizations. Stanford University. Updated 15 July 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2017.