Afghanistan Under Taliban

About the Book

The edited volume comprises 16 chapters contributed by Afghan, Central Asian, Iranian, Russian, Western, and Indian scholars and analysts. The chapters not only dwell on country perspectives but also key issues of concern to the people of Afghanistan and the wider region. It includes terrorism, transnational crime, drug production and distribution, the governance system and the state of education in Afghanistan. The contributions in the volume paint an unflattering view of the ground reality in Afghanistan, and a connecting thread of pessimism runs through various analyses.

About the Editor

Vishal Chandra studies Afghanistan at Manohar Parrikar IDSA, New Delhi. He joined MP-IDSA in 2003 and is currently a Research Fellow with the South Asia Centre of the Institute. He has travelled in Afghanistan and has participated in various national and international academic forums. He has delivered talks & lectures on Afghanistan at India’s leading training academies and institutes. He is the author of the monograph, Afghans in Need: Positing India’s Continued Engagement with Afghanistan, MP-IDSA, October 2024; and the book, The Unfinished War in Afghanistan: 2001–2014, IDSA, Pentagon Press, New Delhi, 2015. He is the editor of three IDSA books: India and South Asia: Exploring Regional Perceptions, 2015; India’s Neighbourhood: The Armies of South Asia, 2013; and India’s Neighbourhood: Challenges Ahead, 2008 (co-editor). He has recently authored an Occasional Paper, Taliban’s “Contact Commission”: Three Years Later, MP-IDSA, July 2025; and a Special Feature, The Why and What of Non-Inclusivity and Dissensus in the Taliban ‘Emirate,’ MP-IDSA, November 2024. Mr Chandra also had a decade-long editorial stint with the Institute’s website, including as the Editor Website from 2019 to 2022.