India is set to host the Afghan acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttak, next week, says the Indian media in the latest updates. The UN-sanctioned Taliban leader was due to make his first trip to India in August, but failed to secure a waiver on his existing travel ban by the United Nations Security Council last month.
He was sanctioned by the UNSC in 2001 over the acts and activities of the Taliban in Afghanistan during the hardline Islamist group’s previous rule in the 1990s. However, the UNSC said its committee approved an exemption to his travel ban, allowing him to visit India between 9th October to 16th October.
First High-Level Kabul–Delhi Contact Since 2021
This will be the first high-level visit from Kabul to Delhi since the Taliban seized power on Afghanistan in 2021. Indian media claims the visit of Afghanistan’s foreign minister marks a new chapter in the Afghan-Taliban engagement. Indian diplomatic circles have been preparing for this moment for months.
Since January, Indian officials, including Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Senior IFS Officer J.P. Singh have held multiple rounds of dialogue with Muttaki and other Taliban leaders, often meeting in neutral venues like Dubai. India’s Foreign Secretary, Mr. Vikram Misri met Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki in Dubai, where discussions centred on New Delhi’s ongoing humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, particularly in strengthening the health sector and supporting refugee rehabilitation.
On May 15, during the four-day military escalation between Pakistan and India, External Affairs Minister Jai Shankar held a phone conversation with Muttaki, marking the first ministerial-level contact since 2021. During that discussion, Jai Shankar expressed gratitude for the Taliban’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack and reaffirmed India’s traditional friendship with the Afghan people.
Taliban’s Condemnation of Terrorism in Kashmir
Earlier in April, the Taliban had condemned the Pahalgam terror attack in India’s Kashmir during a high-level meeting with Indian officials in Kabul. India has since then expended direct humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, providing food grains, medical supplies, and development assistance.
The Taliban has formally conveyed several requirements to India, ranging from energy support to infrastructure cooperation. India has supplied Afghanistan with nearly 50,000 tonnes of feed, more than 330 tonnes of medicines and vaccines, and 14,000 litres of pesticides, along with a range of other essential items, since the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan.
However, the visit is being widely interpreted in Indian circles as a setback to Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan and Afghanistan’s relations are in turmoil amid the repatriation of more than 80,000 Afghan refugees, leaving the diplomatic space for India to step in more assertively.
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Muttaqi Under UN Sanctions
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is among Afghan Taliban members who are under U.N. sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze. Temporary exemptions are sometimes granted for diplomacy.
Are indo-Afghan relations moving towards normalization?#Afghanistan #India pic.twitter.com/w3jCceGGLT
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Discussions during Muttaqi’s trip would centre around bilateral cooperation, trade exchanges, exports of dry fruit, facilities in the health sector, consular services, and various ports, said Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson of the Afghan Taliban’s foreign ministry.
Visit to Russia Before India
Indian and Afghan media have reported that Muttaqi is expected to travel to Russia before visiting New Delhi.
In Moscow, he is expected to discuss the situation in Afghanistan with representatives from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Central Asian countries, the reports said.
Hekmatullah Hekmat, an Afghan political analyst, said the visit to India was highly significant for the Taliban government. Only Russia has so far recognised the Taliban government. India closed its embassy in Kabul in 2021, but a year later opened a technical mission to coordinate humanitarian assistance.
With Additional Inputs from GVS