Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the context of "Afghanistan–Iran border"

The Kingdom of Afghanistan and the Union of India established bilateral relations in January 1950. India was the only South Asian country to recognize the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, supporting it in the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) against the Afghan mujahideen. India remained mainly neutral during the 1990s Afghan civil wars, though was opposed to the Taliban government. Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, India aided overthrow of the Taliban and became the largest regional provider of aid to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. A major shift in India's position on the Taliban was reported by a top Qatar official in June 2021, revealing that an Indian delegation quietly visited Doha to meet the Taliban's leadership. This is a major shift that was several weeks in the making in the first half of 2021, and likely involved Qatari mediation between India and the Taliban. Although India does not recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it maintains close informal ties with the ruling Taliban.

In April 2017 Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Afghanistan's former ambassador to India, pointed out that India "is the biggest regional donor to Afghanistan and fifth largest donor globally with over $3 billion in assistance. India has built over 200 public and private schools, sponsors over 1,000 scholarships, and hosts over 16,000 Afghan students." Relations between Afghanistan and India received a major boost in 2011 with the signing of a strategic partnership agreement, Afghanistan's first since the Soviet-Afghan War. The student visas were revoked in large numbers after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Sunni Islam (Hanafi/Deobandi) is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Islam in Afghanistan began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries, with the last holdouts to conversion submitting in the late 19th century. It was generally accepted by local communities as a replacement of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, local tribes began converting to the new religion. Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 85% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias. Most Shias belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.

After the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, the Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia and in 652 captured Herat. By the end of the 10th century CE the Turkic Ghaznavids subdued Kabul Shahi kings.

On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan, and marked a total victory for the Taliban. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.

The United States–Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020, is considered one of the most critical factors that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency.

Education in Afghanistan includes K–12 and higher education, which is under the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education. In 2021, there were nearly 10 million students and 220,000 teachers in Afghanistan. The nation still requires more schools and teachers. Soon after the Taliban take took the country in August 2021, they banned girls from secondary education. Some provinces still allow secondary education for girls despite the ban. In December 2022, the Taliban government also prohibited university education for females in Afghanistan, sparking protests and international condemnation. In December 2023, investigations were being held by the United Nations into the claim that Afghan girls of all ages were allowed to study at religious schools. As of November 2024, some parts of the country allow women to attend religious schools to pursue dentistry, nursing, and other subjects.

According to Acting Education Minister Noorullah Munir, "Afghanistan has 20,000 official schools in which 9,000 are of no use, 5,000 have no building and the remaining 4,000 needed rehabilitation." Compulsory education in Afghanistan is through the ninth grade. "The academic year consists of 2 semesters, and runs from March to January." Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, officials under the Islamic Emirate have suspended secondary education to teenage girls.

The Afghan Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي امارت وسله وال ځواکونه, Dari: قوای مسلح امارت اسلامی افغانستان) and also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces, is the military of Afghanistan, commanded by the Taliban government from 1997 to 2001 and again since August 2021.

The Taliban created the first iteration of the Emirate's armed forces in 1997 after taking over Afghanistan following the end of the Afghan Civil War which raged between 1992 and 1996. However, the first iteration of the armed forces was dissolved in 2001 after the downfall of the first Taliban government following the United States invasion of Afghanistan. It was officially reestablished on 8 November 2021 after the Taliban's victory in the War in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021 following the recapture of Kabul and the collapse of the U.S.-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its Afghan National Army as a whole, with the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan after being out of power for 20 years.

The Afghan National Police (ANP; Pashto: د افغانستان ملي پولیس; Dari: پولیس ملی افغانستان), also known as the Afghan Police, is the national police force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The Afghan Border Police, which had stations along the nation's border and at major airports, was a separate component of the force. The ANP is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior Affairs in Kabul, Afghanistan, and is headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani. It has nearly 200,000 members as of April 2023. Furthermore, the GDI are also a part of the secret police agency of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan after the Fall of Kabul in August 2021, and the GCPSU are the special police forces.

The Afghan police traces its roots to the early 18th century when the Hotak dynasty was established in Kandahar followed by Ahmad Shah Durrani's rise to power. It became a strong organized force after 1880 when Emir Abdur Rahman Khan established diplomatic relations with British India. In the 1980s it began receiving training and equipment from the former Soviet Union.