Afghanistan as Ally

Power after power has tried and failed to conquer Afghanistan, usually leaving the country in worst state than when they arrived. But... what if some power decided "We need Afghanistan, but we can't really expect to conquer it. So I want you people to go talk to the local leader, see if they'll cut a deal for passage rights and maybe some border forts." Is this a plausible scenario? And if not, why not?
 
The British tried that... problems

The paid local mountain tribes and farmers for knowledge when they went to install Shah Shuhja (the legal Afghan Emirite/king ruler who was removed in a coup ) back into power. The tribes warned the British that people kicked the previous ruler out because he had zero charisma and was hated by people, so displacing the usurper would be unpopular. The British decided to put the legal ruler back. They were not conquerors. They had some forts, passage rights, and 4,500 garrison in Kabul. They stayed out of Afgan administration and let the locals run things, with the troops only there as a not quite so mobile response force

And so we get the Retreat of Kabual, which was a disaster.
 
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