Editor's Pick: The last of the Indian prisoners

(The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.)

The last of seven employees of an Indian company in Afghanistan who were kidnapped by the Taliban in 2018 has returned to India. Mantu Singh, a native of Jharkhand, was released by the Taliban as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement. The much-delayed release was the final stage of an exchange of 1,000 prisoners held by the Taliban for 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government, and came ahead of intra-Afghan talks in Qatar.

India has sent a delegation to Doha for the power-sharing talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, a part of the U.S. plan to withdraw from the country. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar addressed the opening ceremony on Saturday — a first for India, which doesn't recognise the Taliban. Mr. Jaishankar did not mention the Taliban in his speech, but spoke of the need to preserve democratic progress and prevent violence in the region — two issues on which the Taliban is seen as working at cross-purposes. The External Affairs Ministry, meanwhile, thanked the Afghan government for its "unwavering support" in securing the release of the Indian prisoners.

India's influence in Afghanistan stems from its connections with the Afghan government, while the Taliban — or at least significant factions within it — is seen as having closer ties with Pakistan. There is also a perception now that India has been sidelined in the peace process kicked off by the U.S. If there is a power-sharing deal in Afghanistan which brings Taliban into Kabul, India could lose its grip further. This larger context is what makes the release of the last Indian prisoner an important story.