AN iconic 70s actress has been spotted looking completely unrecognisable, 47 years after playing a celebrated role that has stood the test of time.
The star, 74, was pictured in New York yesterday running errands while dressed in a pink polo shirt and white shorts, which could be considered an ode to her legendary character.
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This actress played an iconic role in a 70s classic film – do you recognise her?Credit: TheImageDirect.com
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She looked world’s away from her classic roleCredit: TheImageDirect.com
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The star is best-known for her role in beloved musical GreaseCredit: Getty
She got her big break in Hollywood back in 1978 in a musical romantic comedyfilm which ended up becoming the highest grossing musical film at the time.
Four years later, she reprised her role for the stand-alone sequel and was the only character to return from the first film.
That’s right, it’s Grease icon Didi Conn! She played Frenchy Facciano as part of the Pink Ladies in the movie and it’s sequel.
The film’s soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, only behind 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever.
It was nominated for several accolades including a nomination for Best Original Song at the Oscars and five nominations at the Golden Globe Awards.
Not only that, but in 2020, Grease was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Didi previously spoke exclusively to The Sun about her experience of shooting the film and shared some behind the scenes insights.
In one memorable scene of the movie, there’s a dance contest where the cast go wild, dancing the Hand Jive and doing some rather dirty dancing.
While it looked like it would have been fun to film, Didi revealed it was anything but fun.
She expressed: “That actually took a whole week of shooting. And what was really tough about it was that it was the height of summer – my birthday was that week, and the cake they got for me totally melted.
John Travolta’s relative stars alongside him in Grease
“We were in a real high school in downtown Los Angeles, with no air conditioning, and we had to keep the windows closed because right next door was a pork plant, so you can imagine the smell!”
But it was Summer Nights, the opening number of Grease, that Didi remembered most fondly.
She explained: “I think that’s where we all bonded, and it was so much fun to sing that song and jump all around the table.
“We’d been rehearsing it for weeks beforehand, so the energy was so high when we performed it for real.”
Grease stars remembered
IT has been over 45 years since the release of hit musical film Grease, which began its decades-long tenure of dazzling fans in 1978.
Sadly, including Susan Buckner, five of the much-loved cast have passed away.
After falling ill with pneumonia, Jeff Conaway – Danny’s best pal Kenickie in the movie – sadly passed away in 2011.
The same year, Annette Charles, who played Cha Cha, lost her battle with cancer.
In 1993, Dennis C. Stewart, who played rebel Leo, was diagnosed with HIV and passed away from AIDS in 1994.
After Grease, Didi went on to star in comedy film Almost Summer, fantasy adventure film Thomas and the Magic Railroad and biographical film Frida, based on the life of Frida Kahlo.
In 2019, she flew across the pond to make her debut on British tv screens on the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice.
She was partnered with professional Łukasz Różycki and at the age of 67, was the oldest person to ever compete on the show.
However, she was eliminated in the fourth week after the judges decided to save Saara Aalto and Hamish Gaman after following the skate-off.
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She played Frenchy – one of the Pink LadiesCredit: 20th Century Fox
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The film catapulted Didi’s career to new heightsCredit: Getty
HER breakout role saw her play Michael Douglas’s drug-addicted teen daughter in 2000 crime flick, Traffic.
Since then she’s starred opposite some of Hollywood‘s biggest names from Kevin Costner to Susan Sarandon.
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This famous actress found fame opposite Michael DouglasCredit: The Mega Agency
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She’s been in dozens of movies and films over the past three decadesCredit: The Mega Agency
And 25 years on from that career-defining role, the successful actress, 42, is embracing her natural self.
She was spotted out and about in LA in a vest top and ripped jeans freely showing off her armpit hair as she reached up to adjust her locks.
Going makeup-free, Parenthood star Erika Christensen looked at ease and radiant as she strolled in the sunshine.
Mom-of-two Erika currently stars in ABC crime drama Will Trent as the titular dyslexic detective’s on/off girlfriend Angie Polaski.
She hasn’t stopped working for the past three decades with dozens of film, TV and music video credits to her name.
Some of her best known work includes the films Swimfan, The Upside of Anger and Flightplan, while on the small screen she’s been in The Geena Davis Show and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Her first major role was back in 1995 when she appeared in Michael Jackson’s Childhood video, though she never got to actually meet the King of Pop.
She once told Blackfilm.com, “I wish I could have met him, I didn’t. We were green screened together. In the video he’s sitting in a forest and all the kids are in boats above him. He sent me an autographed photo and that was nice.”
The interview came out ahead of the release of her 2005 rom-com The Upside of Anger where she played the daughter of Joan Allen’s character Terry Wolfmeyer.
The family drama sees Terry fall for heavy drinking neighbor Denny Davies [Costner] after husband Grey upped and left the family for a life in Sweden with his secretary – though this doesn’t end up being the case.
Cheaper by the Dozen Official Trailer
Erika said at the time, “Kevin Costner and Joan Allen, who does not love Joan Allen? She’s fantastic, so cool as a person.
“She’s our mother, it’s about a family, there are four daughters, Alicia Witt, Kerri Russell, Evan Rachel Wood, and myself. It’s a great cast and it’s written and directed by Mike Binder. He stars in it too.
“It’s a bunch of us over a period of three years. It’s very dramatic and funny. It’s really character driven. I’m looking forward to see it so much.”
Erika was raised a Scientologist in Seattle and has defended the controversial religion in recent years.
She opened up about it to her Parenthood co-star Dax Shepard on an episode of his Armchair Expert podcast, explaining her beliefs.
She said: “I can justify things in all kinds of different ways, but basically, like, as a Scientologist, and I definitely cannot speak for every Scientologist about anything because everybody has their own beliefs and comes at it from even other religions and all kinds of stuff.
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Erika Christensen’s breakthrough role was in TrafficCredit: Alamy
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She currently has a lead role in crime drama Will TrentCredit: Getty
“However, I don’t believe this is the first time I have lived on this planet and I basically think I’ve probably done absolutely everything before.”
The foundation of Scientology is the belief each person is an immortal spiritual being with unlimited potential.
Erika poured scorn on Leah Remini’s stirring docuseries Scientology and the Aftermath as well as follow up Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.
She said, “It honestly doesn’t have anything to do with anything that I’ve ever learned about the group or organization.
“To be specific about [Going Clear], if somebody has read a book, read Dianetics or some Scientology book and wants to philosophically tell me what they disagree with it, cool.
“That is a totally different thing. But, specifically with that documentary, the documentary was based on a book. The book was not even published in some English-speaking countries because the libel laws are stricter than they are here.”
Erika Christensen’s career timeline
Erika Christensen’s journey in Hollywood kicked off pretty early, even featuring in Michael Jackson’s “Childhood” music video back in 1995 when she was just twelve. She never actually got to meet the King of Pop on set though, as they were green-screened together for the video.
Her big moment arrived in 2000 with her captivating portrayal of Caroline Wakefield, a teenage drug addict, in Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed film Traffic.
The role really put her on the map, earning her an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance and a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble cast. People magazine even named her one of their “Breakthrough Stars of 2001”.
After Traffic, Erika kept busy with a mix of film roles, diving into everything from teen thrillers like Swimfan (2002) to comedies such as The Banger Sisters (2002) and The Perfect Score (2004).
She also explored dramatic and thriller territory in films like Flightplan (2005), How to Rob a Bank (2007), The Tortured (2010), and more recently, The Case for Christ (2017), KIMI (2022), and Cheaper by the Dozen (2022).
Erika’s television career has been equally varied. She had early guest spots on popular shows like Frasier, The Practice, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and That ’70s Show.
A significant chapter of her TV career was playing Julia Braverman-Graham in the beloved NBC family drama Parenthood from 2010 to 2015, a role for which she won a Gracie Award in 2014.
She also appeared in shows like Six Degrees (2006-2007), Wicked City (2015), and Ten Days in the Valley (2017).
Currently, you can catch her starring as Angie Polaski in the ABC series Will Trent, which premiered in 2023.
There was some big news at the start of Love Island on Thursday night that sparked quite the reaction from the cast members in a preview, as fans guessed a big twist
There was some big news at the start of Love Island on Thursday night(Image: ITV2)
There was an announcement previewed in a clip at the very start of Love Island on Thursday night that promised drama ahead.
One Islander screamed out as she confirmed some worrying news. The other Islanders were all left reeling as they heard the news, shown looking shocked and panicked.
As the episode kicked off, a preview clip for that episode confirmed a recoupling was on the cards. One star shouted out: ‘I’ve got a text! Tonight there will be a recoupling,” adding the girls would get to choose.
As the camera panned across the villa, all of the Islanders shouted out and were openmouthed. Clearly not anticipating another recoupling so soon, it’s clear some of them not yet in a strong couple were worried.
Meanwhile fans were left reacting online, believing it meant a dumping was coming. With spoilers teasing that around the recoupling there’s a shocking text message set to rock the villa, fans guessed a new twist was on the cards.
Fans wondered if the result of the recoupling could lead to the next dumping of the series. With there being two more boys than girls, could a double exit be on the way?
Love Island teased some big news coming up in the episode (Image: ITV)
Taking to X one fan said: “Which boy do you think will get dumped tonight?” as if it had been confirmed. Another agreed: “I really hope Ben is dumped tonight,” as a third said: “Harry you are getting dumped.”
It comes amid reports that a male Islander has in fact been dumped from the villa. Viewers will have to tune in to find out what happens and who leaves.
Earlier this week, viewers predicted which former Love Island star could be set to enter the famous second villa, Casa Amor later this series. After Sophie Lee was axed from the show on Tuesday night in a brutal dumping, after her partner Harry was stolen by Shakira, fans were quick to predict she might be back very soon.
There was news of a recoupling(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Taking to X, fans guessed the twist would happen with one fan writing: “I reckon Sophie will re-enter the villa as a bombshell by the end of next week at the latest or she will re-enter in Casa Amor.” Another said: “Dw Sophie you’ll be back in 4 weeks for Casa Amor.”
A third viewer begged: “Nah bring Sophie back for Casa Amor she deserves a chance.” A fourth fan agreed: “Bring her back for casa amor!!” as a fifth viewer posted: “Gutted for her and bring back Sophie as a bombshell or Casa Amor.”
The comments kept on coming with one reading: “They better bring Sophie back as a Casa bombshell. Justice for Sophie.” Another said: “BRING SOPHIE BACK FOR CASA AMOR!”
The father and son duo wrote the screenplay together, with the film described as an “exploration of the relationships between fathers, sons and brothers, and the dynamics of familial bonds”.
Love Island 2025 kicks off tonight, with Megan Forte Clarke and Dejon Noel Williams already tipped to win – but a bombshell arrival has already thrown a spanner in the works
23:36, 09 Jun 2025Updated 23:46, 09 Jun 2025
Maya Jama tasks the girls with deciding who to couple up with based solely on their dating profiles.(Image: ITV)
Love Island 2025 is set to kick off tonight, and anticipation for this year’s villa hopefuls is already at fever pitch, with Megan Forte Clarke and Dejon Noel Williams tipped as early favourites to secure the much-coveted top spots.
The latest odds from betting gurus at OLBG suggest that Megan and Dejon are leading the pack as favourites for Top Female and Top Male of the season.
But with unexpected arrivals and last-minute line-up alterations, the villa is already brimming with surprises.
Megan Forte Clarke currently leads the board at 7/2, boasting a 22.2% chance of emerging as this year’s queen bee. However, her reign could be brief.
A significant twist has already hit before the first coupling, with 24 year old American Toni Laites unveiled as the season’s first bombshell. Her entrance could potentially shake up the market, reports the Express.
Dejon Noel Williams and Harry Cooksley are now neck and neck for the top male spot, both standing at 4/1 odds. Meanwhile, rugby player Conor Phillips has unexpectedly joined the competition following a dramatic reshuffle.
Maya Jama tasks the girls with deciding who to couple up with based solely on their dating profiles.(Image: Love Island)
Love Island 2025: Top Male Odds
Just hours ahead of the season’s launch, ITV confirmed that original contestant Kyle Ashman had been dropped after revelations surfaced about his previous arrest on suspicion of a machete attack.
He has now been replaced by Phillips, whose late entry could upset the balance.
Jake Ashton, Entertainment Betting Editor at OLBG, remarked:
“Every year we see bombshells disrupt the odds, and Toni could do just that. Once she’s in the villa and viewers see her impact, expect her price to shorten quickly.”
The Love Island villa is gearing up for excitement with bombshells already making waves – the betting odds are alive and kicking off.
The UK’s best islands have been named – and the winner is a tiny spot off the coast of northwest Wales. It’s a peaceful escape with plenty to explore and miles of beautiful beaches
Anglesey is home to 25 historic sites and a Michelin-starred restaurant(Image: Getty)
If you’re on the hunt for a staycation spot, look no further – the UK’s best islands have been revealed. Topping the list is Anglesey, located off the northwest coast of Wales.
Despite having a modest population of just 70,000, the island attracts a million tourists each year. But don’t let these figures put you off; it never feels overcrowded.
In fact, it’s the ideal location for a tranquil escape, perfect for unwinding and disconnecting from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
The Telegraph assessed 35 factors across more than 40 islands, with Anglesey outshining popular holiday destinations such as Jersey, Skye, and the Isle of Wight.
There’s plenty to keep you occupied, including a 140-mile coastal path that encircles the island, the romantic Llandwyn Island, and wildlife spotting at South Stack Lighthouse.
Even a simple afternoon spent exploring the marine life in the rockpools at the nearest beach can be delightful.
For those less inclined towards hiking and nature spotting, Anglesey boasts the 13th-century Beaumaris Castle and the Halen Môn sea salt company’s visitor centre, reports the Express.
Anglesey has been named the UK’s best island(Image: Getty)
Additionally, there’s the Copper Kingdom – once the world’s largest copper mine, and Holy Island, renowned for its high concentration of standing stones, burial chambers and other religious sites.
GeoMôn, a Unesco World Heritage site of extraordinary geological importance, showcases 1.8 billion years of Earth’s history, the oldest fossils in England and Wales, and rock formations from nearly every geological period.
The publication hailed Anglesey as “Wales’s biggest island romped to the top of the ranking”, with its 25 historic sites and the Michelin-starred delights of Sosban and the Old Butchers in Menai Strait.
A stone’s throw from the island lies the stunning Eryri National Park (formerly known as Snowdonia), where those keen on challenging hikes can tackle peaks like Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), the highest mountain in the UK outside Scotland.
Reaching Anglesey is a breeze by car or train via Bangor to Holyhead, a bustling cruise and ferry port offering frequent services to Dublin.
The island boasts an array of accommodation options, including self-catering holiday homes, hotels, and B&Bs.
The Telegraph’s roundup of the UK’s best islands also features the Isle of Wight, Jersey, Mull, Skye, Guernsey, Mainland (Orkney), St Mary (Isles of Scilly), Isle of Man, and Arran.
Guess who suddenly has a “TACO” allergy? President Yuge Taco Salad himself.
In the annals of four-letter words and acronyms Donald Trump has long hitched his political fortunes on, the word “taco” may be easy to overlook.
There’s MAGA, most famously. DOGE, courtesy of Elon Musk. Huge (pronounced yuge, of course). Wall, as in the one he continues to build on the U.S.-Mexico border. “Love” for himself, “hate” against all who stand in his way.
There’s a four-letter term, however, that best sums up Trump’s shambolic presidency, one no one would’ve ever associated with him when he announced his first successful presidential campaign a decade ago.
Taco.
His first use of the most quintessential of Mexican meals happened on Cinco de Mayo 2016, when Trump posted a portrait of himself grinning in front of a giant taco salad while proclaiming “I Love Hispanics!” Latino leaders immediately ridiculed his Hispandering, with UnidosUS president Janet Murguia telling the New York Times that it was “clueless, offensive and self-promoting” while also complaining, “I don’t know that any self-respecting Latino would even acknowledge that a taco bowl is part of our culture.”
I might’ve been the only Trump critic in the country to defend his decision to promote taco salads. After all, it’s a dish invented by a Mexican American family at the old Casa de Fritos stand in Disneyland. But also because the meal can be a beautiful, crunchy thing in the right hands. Besides, I realized what Trump was doing: getting his name in the news, trolling opponents, and having a hell of a good time doing it while welcoming Latinos into his basket of deplorables as he strove for the presidency. Hey, you couldn’t blame the guy for trying.
Guess what happened?
Despite consistently trashing Latinos, Trump increased his share of that electorate in each of his presidential runs and leaned on them last year to capture swing states like Arizona and Nevada. Latino Republican politicians made historic gains across the country in his wake — especially in California, where the number of Latino GOP legislators jumped from four in 2022 to a record nine.
The Trump taco salad tweet allowed his campaign to present their billionaire boss to Latinos as just any other Jose Schmo ready to chow down on Mexican food. It used the ridicule thrown at him as proof to other supporters that elites hated people like them. Trump must have at least felt confident the taco salad gambit from yesteryear worked because he reposted the image on social media this Cinco de Mayo, adding the line “This was so wonderful, 9 years ago today!”
It’s not exactly live by the taco, die by the taco. (Come on, why would such a tasty force of good want to hurt anyone)? But Trump is suddenly perturbed by the mere mention of TACO.
Doritos Locos Tacos at the Taco Bell Laguna Beach location.
(Don Leach/Daily Pilot)
That’s an acronym mentioned in a Financial Times newsletter earlier this month that means Trump Always Chickens Out. The insult is in reference to the growing belief in Wall Street that people who invest in stocks should keep in mind that the president talks tough on tariffs but never follows through because he folds under pressure like the Clippers. Or a taco, come to think of it.
Trump raged when CNBC reporter Megan Cassella asked him about TACO at a White House press conference this week.
“Don’t ever say what you said,” the commander in chief snarled before boasting about how he wasn’t a chicken and was actually a tough guy. “That’s a nasty question.”
No other reporter followed up with TACO questions, because the rest of the internet did. Images of Trump in everything from taco suits to taco crowns to carnivorous tacos swallowing Trump whole have bloomed ever since. News outlets are spreading Trump’s out-of-proportion response to something he could’ve just laughed off, while “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” just aired a parody song to the tune of “Macho Man” titled — what else? — “Taco Man.”
The TACO coinage is perfect: snappy, easily understandable, truthful and seems Trump-proof. The master of appropriating insults just can’t do anything to make TACO his — Trump Always Cares Outstandingly just doesn’t have the same ring. It’s also a reminder that Trump’s anti-Latino agenda so far in his administration makes a predictable mockery of his taco salad boast and related Hispandering.
Meanwhile, the economy — the main reason why so many Latinos went for Trump in 2024 in the first place — hasn’t improved since the Biden administration and always seems one Trump speech away from getting even wobblier.
As for Latinos, there are some signs Trump’s early presidency has done him no great favors with them. An April survey by the Pew Research Center — considered the proverbial gold standard when it comes to objectively gauging how Latinos feel about issues — found 27% of them approve of how he’s doing as president, down from 36% back in February.
President Trump gives a thumbs up to the cheering crowd after a Latinos for Trump Coalition roundtable in Phoenix in 2020.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
Trump was always an imperfect champion of the taco’s winning potential, and not because the fish tacos at his Trump Grill come with French fries (labeled “Idaho” on the menu) and the taco salad currently costs a ghastly $25. He never really understood that a successful taco must appeal to everyone, never shatter or rip apart under pressure and can never take itself seriously like a burrito or a snooty mole.
The president needs to move on from his taco dalliance and pay attention to another four-letter word, one more and more Americans utter after every pendejo move Trump and his flunkies commit:
For a country whose government is not recognised by any nation, Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has had an unusually busy calendar in recent weeks.
He has hosted his counterpart from Pakistan, spoken on the phone with India’s foreign minister, and jetted to Iran and China. In Beijing, he also met the Pakistani foreign minister again. On Wednesday, he joined trilateral talks with delegations from Pakistan and China.
This, even though the ruling Taliban have historically had tense relations with most of these countries, and currently have taut ties with Pakistan, a one-time ally with whom trust is at an all-time low.
While neither the United Nations nor any of its member states formally recognise the Taliban, analysts say that this diplomatic overdrive suggests that the movement is far from a pariah on the global stage.
So why are multiple countries in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood queueing up to engage diplomatically with the Taliban, while avoiding formal recognition?
We unpack the Taliban’s latest high-level regional engagements and look at why India, Pakistan and Iran are all trying to befriend Afghanistan’s rulers, four years after they marched on Kabul and grabbed power.
Who did Muttaqi meet or speak to in recent weeks?
A timeline of Afghanistan’s recent diplomatic engagements:
April 19: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar travels with a high-level delegation to Kabul to meet Muttaqi and other Afghan officials. The two sides discussed an ongoing spat over Pakistan’s repatriation of Afghan refugees, bilateral trade and economic cooperation, the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
May 6: Dar and Muttaqi spoke again on what turned out to be the eve of India’s attack on Pakistan, leading to four days of missile and drone attacks between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The exchange of fire took place after India accused Pakistan of being involved in the April 22 Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which left 26 people dead.
May 15: India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar holds a phone conversation with Muttaqi to express his gratitude for the Taliban’s condemnation of the Pahalgam attacks.
May 17: Muttaqi arrives in the Iranian capital Tehran to attend the Tehran Dialogue Forum, where he also holds meetings with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and President Massoud Pazeshkian.
May 21: Muttaqi visits Beijing. Trilateral talks between Afghanistan, Pakistan and China take place aimed at boosting trade and security between the three countries.
Head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Qatar, Suhail Shaheen said the group is a “reality of today’s Afghanistan” as it “controls all territory and borders of the country”.
“The regional countries know this fact and, as such, they engage with the Islamic Emirate at various levels, which is a pragmatic and rational approach in my view,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the name by which the Taliban refers to the current Afghan state.
“We believe it is through engagement that we can find solutions to issues,” he added, arguing that formal recognition of the Taliban government “not be delayed furthermore”.
“Our region has its own interests and goals that we should adhere to.”
Why is India warming up to the Taliban?
It’s an unlikely partnership. During the Taliban’s initial rule between 1996 and 2001, the Indian government refused to engage with the Afghan group and did not recognise their rule, which at the time was only recognised by Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
India, which had supported the earlier Soviet-backed government of Mohammad Najibullah, shut down its embassy in Kabul once the Taliban came to power: It viewed the Taliban as a proxy of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, which had supported the mujahideen against Moscow.
Instead, New Delhi supported the anti-Taliban opposition group, the Northern Alliance.
Following the United States-led ousting of the Taliban in 2001, India reopened its Kabul embassy and became a significant development partner for Afghanistan, investing more than $3bn in infrastructure, health, education and water projects, according to its Ministry of External Affairs.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri meets Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Muttaqi in Dubai in January [File: @MEAIndia/X]
But its embassy and consulates came under repeated, deadly attacks from the Taliban and its allies, including the Haqqani group.
After the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, New Delhi evacuated its embassy and once again refused to recognise the group. However, unlike during the Taliban’s first stint in power, India built diplomatic contacts with the group – first behind closed doors, then, increasingly, publicly.
The logic was simple, say analysts: India realised that by refusing to engage with the Taliban earlier, it had ceded influence in Afghanistan to Pakistan, its regional rival.
In June 2022, less than a year after the Taliban’s return to power, India reopened its embassy in Kabul by deploying a team of “technical experts” to run it. In November 2024, the Taliban appointed an acting consul at the Afghan consulate in Mumbai.
Then, last January, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Muttaqi both flew to Dubai for a meeting – the highest-level face-to-face interaction between New Delhi and the Taliban to date.
Kabir Taneja, a deputy director at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, says not dealing with “whatever political reality sets in in Kabul was never an option” for India.
“No one is pleased per se that the reality is the Taliban,” Taneja told Al Jazeera. However, while India’s “decades-long” efforts to foster goodwill with the Afghan people have faced challenges since the Taliban takeover, they have not been entirely undone.
“Even the Taliban’s ideological stronghold, the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary, is in India,” he added. “These are ties with the country and its actors that cannot be vanquished, and have to be dealt with realistically and practically,” he added.
What is Pakistan’s calculus?
One of the Taliban’s foremost backers between 1996 and 2021, Pakistan has seen its relationship with the group plummet in recent years.
Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, Pakistan has seen a surge in violent attacks, which Islamabad attributes to armed groups, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan insists that the TTP operates from Afghan territory and blames the ruling Taliban for allowing them sanctuary – a claim the Taliban government denies.
Emerging in 2007 amid the US-led so-called “war on terror”, the Pakistan Taliban has long challenged Islamabad’s authority through a violent rebellion. Though distinct from the Afghan Taliban, the two are seen as ideologically aligned.
Dar’s visit to Kabul and subsequent communication with Muttaqi represent a “tactical, ad hoc thaw” rather than a substantial shift in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, says Rabia Akhtar, director at the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research at the University of Lahore.
During the recent India-Pakistan crisis, Islamabad grew increasingly concerned about the possibility of Afghanistan allowing its territory to be used by New Delhi against Pakistan, she suggested. “This has increased Islamabad’s urgency to secure its western border,” Akhtar told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s decision earlier this year to expel Afghan refugees – including many who have spent most of their lives in Pakistan – and frequent border closures disrupting trade are also sources of tension in the relationship.
The refugees question, in particular, could prove to be a key factor that will shape future relations between the two countries, Akhtar said.
“While Pakistan has pushed for repatriation of undocumented Afghans, Kabul views such deportations as punitive,” she said. “If this dialogue is an indication of a recognition on both sides that confrontation is unsustainable, especially amidst shifting regional alignments and economic pressures, then that’s a good sign.”
The Taliban’s Shaheen said while Kabul wanted good relations with Islamabad, they should be “reciprocated” and that a “blame game” is not in anyone’s interest.
“We have taken practical steps as far as it concerns us,” he said, noting that Afghanistan had started building checkpoints “along the line adjacent to Pakistan in order to prevent any one from crossing”.
“However, their internal security is the responsibility of their security forces not ours.”
China, at the trilateral talks in Beijing on Wednesday, said Kabul and Islamabad had agreed in principle to upgrade diplomatic ties and would send their respective ambassadors at the earliest.
Nevertheless, Akhtar does not expect the “core mistrust” between the two neighbours, particularly over alleged TTP sanctuaries, to “go away any time soon”.
“We should look at this shift as part of Pakistan’s broader crisis management post-India-Pak crisis rather than structural reconciliation,” Akhtar asserted.
What does Iran want from its ties with the Taliban?
Like India, Tehran refused to recognise the Taliban when it was first in power, while backing the Northern Alliance, especially after the 1998 killing of Iranian diplomats in Mazar-i-Sharif by Taliban fighters.
Iran amassed thousands of troops on its eastern border, nearly going to war with the Taliban over the incident.
Concerned about the extensive US military footprint in the region post-9/11, Iran was said to be quietly engaging with the Taliban, offering limited support in an effort to counter American influence and protect its own strategic interests.
Since the Taliban took back reins of the country nearly four years ago, Iran again showed willingness to build ties with rulers in Kabul on a number of security, humanitarian and trade-related matters, analysts say.
Shaheen, head of the Taliban’s office in Doha, said that both Iran and India previously thought the group was “under the influence of Pakistan”.
“Now they know it is not the reality. In view of this ground reality, they have adopted a new realistic and pragmatic approach, which is good for everyone,” he said.
Ibraheem Bahiss, analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the meeting between Muttaqi and Iranian President Pezeshkian doesn’t signal an “impending official recognition”. However, he said, “pragmatic considerations” have driven Iran to engage the Taliban, given its “key interests” in Afghanistan.
“Security-wise, Tehran wants allies in containing the ISIS [ISIL] local chapter. Tehran has also been seeking to expand its trade relations with Afghanistan, now being one of its major trading partners,” he told Al Jazeera.
In January 2024, twin suicide bombings in Kerman marked one of Iran’s deadliest attacks in decades, killing at least 94 people. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), an Afghanistan-based offshoot of ISIL, claimed responsibility.
In recent years, ISKP has also emerged as a significant challenge to the Taliban’s rule, having carried out multiple high-profile attacks across Afghanistan.
Bahiss added that Tehran also needed a “willing partner” in addressing the issue of some 780,000 Afghan refugees in Iran, as well as the “transboundary water flowing from Helmand River “.
In May 2023, tensions between the two neighbours flared, leading to border clashes in which two Iranian border guards and one Taliban fighter were killed.
The violence came after former and now deceased Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned the Taliban not to violate a 1973 treaty by restricting the flow of water from the Helmand River to Iran’s eastern regions. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers denied the accusation.
