By N. C. Bipindra
The October 2025 restoration of full diplomatic ties between India and Afghanistan is far more than a symbolic gesture. It represents a profound shift in the geopolitics of South Asia. At its heart lies a slender, mountainous stretch of land that could redefine power balances in the region: the Wakhan Corridor.
Flanked by Tajikistan, Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK), and China’s occupied East Turkistan (Xinjiang) province, this 106-kilometre strip is the only geographical point where India and Afghanistan technically touch.
For decades, it was viewed merely as a relic of the 19th-century “Great Game.” But as India re-enters Kabul, Pakistan’s influence over Afghanistan wanes, and China seeks to extend its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through the region, Wakhan has emerged as the pivot on which the future of South Asian geopolitics could turn.
India’s Diplomatic Reset with Afghanistan: A Message to Pakistan
During the recent joint press conference in Delhi, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar referred to Afghanistan as a “contiguous neighbour,” a deliberate phrase with deep strategic implications.
India and Afghanistan share no functional border today because the territory between them, Gilgit-Baltistan, remains under Pakistan’s illegal occupation. By invoking “contiguity,” Jaishankar emphasised India’s claim over Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir and, at the same time, asserted Afghanistan’s significance to India’s regional calculus.
India’s upgrade of its mission in Kabul to a full embassy and Jaishankar’s pointed remark that both nations “face the problem of cross-border terrorism” served a dual purpose: signaling India’s readiness to re-engage with Kabul’s current government and reminding Pakistan that its use of terror as statecraft has created growing regional blowback, even from Afghanistan.
This marks a critical moment in India’s Afghan policy. After maintaining a cautious distance since the Taliban’s return in 2021, New Delhi now sees engagement as a means to secure its interests, counter Pakistan’s narrative, and open new channels of influence in Central Asia.
Kabul’s Message to Islamabad: Independence and Rebalancing
Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s remarks in Delhi made the shift unmistakable: “We will not allow any group to use our territory against others.” He praised India’s humanitarian support during the pandemic and the 2025 earthquake, positioning India as a reliable partner.
This was more than diplomatic courtesy. It was a direct snub to Pakistan.
For years, Islamabad assumed the Taliban regime would be its proxy, granting it “strategic depth” against India. Instead, the Taliban government has turned increasingly hostile toward Pakistan, accusing it of violating Afghan sovereignty through repeated airstrikes in Kunar, Paktika, and now even Kabul.
The Taliban’s control over the Wakhan Corridor further frustrates Pakistan, denying it unfettered access to Central Asia and diminishing its geopolitical leverage.
In contrast, the Taliban sees India as a potential counterbalance, an economic partner capable of helping Afghanistan diversify its foreign relations. While ideological gaps remain wide, pragmatism appears to be prevailing in Kabul.
Wakhan Corridor: The Strategic Fulcrum
Stretching 350 kilometres through Afghanistan’s northeast, the Wakhan Corridor is a high-altitude strip connecting Afghanistan with China and separating Tajikistan from Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan. Historically a neutral buffer during the British-Russian “Great Game,” it has now resurfaced as the most consequential geographic connector in Asia.
Here’s why it matters in 2025:
A Link Between India and Afghanistan: The Wakhan Corridor’s western edge abuts the part of Jammu & Kashmir under Pakistan’s control. India’s renewed claim of Afghanistan as a contiguous neighbour reasserts that this narrow land bridge, though blocked today by PoJK, forms the legal link between the two nations. If geopolitical circumstances ever shift, the corridor could become India’s overland route to Central Asia.
China’s Quiet Ambitions: The corridor’s eastern end touches China’s occupied East Turkistan (Xinjiang region. Beijing sees Wakhan as a vital extension of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a possible spur of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A CPEC-Wakhan linkage would connect China to Iran through Afghanistan, bypassing India entirely. But any route from Gwadar to Kabul would traverse PoJK making such expansion diplomatically contentious and legally fraught.
Pakistan’s Strategic Loss: For Pakistan, Wakhan was once a potential access route to Central Asia. But Taliban’s consolidation of control over the region, coupled with India’s growing diplomatic footprint in Kabul, leaves Islamabad isolated. Its dream of a seamless trade corridor from Gwadar to Central Asia via Afghanistan is slipping away.
Afghanistan’s Opportunity: For Kabul, Wakhan represents autonomy. It gives Afghanistan direct access to China, reducing dependence on Pakistan for trade and transit. Taliban understands that controlling Wakhan not only brings economic promise but also strengthens Afghanistan’s geopolitical bargaining position.
Regional Tectonics: New Great Game
Wakhan Corridor’s transformation from geographic obscurity to strategic pivot has drawn in multiple powers, each with distinct stakes in the region.
China: BRI Pressure Point
China’s presence in Wakhan Corridor has grown quietly but steadily. Since 2017, Beijing has proposed infrastructure investments, fibre-optic links, and security outposts to prevent the infiltration of Uyghurs from Afghanistan into Xinjiang. Wakhjir Pass, sitting at 4,900 metres, is China’s only potential land link with Afghanistan.
But any expansion of CPEC through Afghanistan challenges India’s sovereignty because it cuts through Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir. For India, this isn’t just about maps. It’s about preventing the institutionalisation of Chinese infrastructure across illegally occupied Indian territory. Hence, India’s diplomatic re-entry into Kabul is partly designed to counter China’s creeping presence.
Iran: Chabahar Factor
Iran, through the Chabahar Port, offers India and Afghanistan a viable alternative to Pakistan-controlled trade routes. The trilateral cooperation between India, Iran, and Afghanistan predates the Taliban takeover and remains a cornerstone of India’s regional connectivity strategy. In this equation, Wakhan Corridor and Chabahar represent parallel visions: one high-altitude, one maritime, both aimed at bypassing Pakistan.
Russia and Central Asia: Silent Watchers
Moscow and Central Asian states, particularly Tajikistan, view the corridor as a security buffer against militant infiltration. Russia, preoccupied elsewhere, remains wary of China’s growing influence near its traditional sphere but sees India’s engagement in Afghanistan as stabilising.
Pakistan’s Dilemma: Losing Strategic Depth
Pakistan’s reaction to these shifting alignments has been defensive and increasingly volatile. Pakistani Air Force’s reported strikes in Kabul hours before the Jaishankar–Muttaqi meeting underscored both its frustration and insecurity. Islamabad’s long-standing “strategic depth” doctrine, using Afghanistan as a rear base to counter India, is collapsing.
With Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacking Pakistani territory from Afghan soil and Kabul refusing to act decisively against them, Islamabad finds itself under pressure on multiple fronts. Domestic instability, border insecurity, and a loss of influence in Kabul have left Pakistan strategically cornered.
Taliban’s seizure of control over the Wakhan Corridor has compounded the problem. What Pakistan once envisioned as a gateway to Central Asia has become a geographic reminder of its shrinking reach.
India’s Emerging Strategy: Patience, Presence, and Partnerships
India’s policy is now guided by three clear principles:
Patience in Engagement: By re-establishing diplomatic ties and humanitarian cooperation, India is creating long-term trust with the Afghan regime without compromising its democratic values. This cautious engagement allows New Delhi to maintain influence without full recognition of the Taliban.
Presence in the Region: Reopening of embassy signals permanence. India has learned from the vacuum it left in 2021 and is determined not to be sidelined again, especially as China and Pakistan jostle for space.
Partnerships for Connectivity: India is aligning its interests with Iran, Central Asian states, and even some Gulf countries to build alternative trade and energy routes that bypass Pakistan.
Wakhan Corridor, though not currently traversable for Indian goods, symbolically supports this strategy, linking India’s continental ambitions with its Indo-Pacific outreach.
Global Chessboard: Powers Wading In
World powers are closely watching these developments. The United States sees India’s Afghan outreach as a stabilising influence that may prevent China from monopolising the region.
European Union views India as a partner for regional development and counterterrorism. China, meanwhile, remains cautious: publicly supporting stability in Afghanistan but privately wary of India’s diplomatic comeback.
What makes October 2025 unique is that for the first time since 2021, Afghanistan is no longer seen as Pakistan’s backyard but as a contested arena of influence among India, China, and regional actors.
Conclusion: Thin Corridor That Could Change Everything
Wakhan Corridor, just 16 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, may seem insignificant on a map, but it now stands at the center of South Asia’s evolving power matrix. It separates India’s disputed territories from Tajikistan, touches China’s sensitive Xinjiang region, and connects Afghanistan’s ambitions to the broader world.
As India strengthens its foothold in Kabul, Pakistan grapples with militant blowback, and China eyes expansion, this narrow strip of rugged mountains could become the arena for the next “Great Game.” Unlike the 19th-century version, however, the contest today is not for imperial dominance but for strategic access, connectivity, and legitimacy.
India’s invocation of Afghanistan as a “contiguous neighbour” was not merely rhetorical. It was a cartographic and geopolitical assertion that the subcontinent’s future will be defined not by Pakistan’s artificial barriers but by enduring civilisational links. And in this calculus, Wakhan Corridor has reemerged as the hinge on which the geopolitics of South and Central Asia may once again turn.
(Author is Chairman, Law and Society Alliance, a New Delhi-based think tank, and guest columnist with CIHS)
CIHS - Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies 