India, Oct. 12 -- A day after India announced the upgrade of its technical mission in Kabul to a full-fledged embassy, signalling its first formal diplomatic re-engagement with Afghanistan's Taliban administration since 2021, officials and regional observers said the move marked the beginning of a carefully calibrated new phase in India's Afghanistan policy-one that blended pragmatism with strategic intent. The decision, conveyed following External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's meeting with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi last week, effectively reopens the Indian embassy that had remained shut since the chaotic withdrawal of US-led forces three years ago. India had maintained only a small but resourceful a...