ABSTRACT. This paper examines the trends in India’s ties with Afghanistan in the last few years and argues that driven by its growing regional and global ambitions, India is following a multi-pronged strategy in Afghanistan. This paper underlines the structural factors that are the most important ones in determining India’s response to the changing strategic environment in Afghanistan. India’s rise in the global inter-state hierarchy over the last decade has led India to define its regional foreign policy in more ambitious terms than before and the success of India’s Afghanistan policy will go a long way in determining if India will be able to emerge as a provider of regional security in South Asia. A very brief historical overview of India-Afghanistan relations is followed by the delineation of trends in this bilateral relationship. Subsequently, an analysis of Indian strategic interests in Afghanistan are examined and placed in the broader regional strategic context. (pp. 36–67)