Afghan Taliban FM Amir Muttaqi set for first India visit since 2021 takeover

NEW DELHI/KABUL: Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is expected to visit India between October 9 and 16, India’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

The visit follows a temporary suspension of a UN Security Council travel ban on Muttaqi. It would mark the first trip to India by a senior Taliban leader since the group seized power in 2021 after two decades of US military presence.

Muttaqi is among several Afghan Taliban members under UN sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze. Exemptions are occasionally granted for diplomatic purposes.

Delhi and Kabul have traditionally enjoyed close ties when the Taliban were not in power.

India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said New Delhi had been in contact with the Afghan administration and had provided support after the August 31 earthquake. He did not, however, confirm the visit dates.

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Afghan Taliban deputy spokesperson Zia Ahmad Takal said discussions during Muttaqi’s trip would focus on bilateral cooperation, trade exchanges, dry fruit exports, healthcare facilities, consular services, and port access. He also declined to confirm specific dates.

Media reports in India and Afghanistan said Muttaqi was expected to travel to Russia before arriving in New Delhi, where he would hold talks with officials from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Central Asian states.

Hekmatullah Hekmat, an Afghan political analyst, said the visit was “highly significant” for the Taliban government.

“Afghanistan is in dire need of establishing relations with regional countries, especially its neighbours. It needs to build political, economic, and trade ties and to gain recognition,” he said.

Only Russia has formally recognised the Taliban government so far. India shut down its embassy in Kabul in 2021 but reopened a technical mission a year later to oversee humanitarian assistance.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan said that Pakistan has formally upgraded its diplomatic relations with Afghan Taliban.

“The decision has been made. We have announced it. The chargés d’affaires in both capitals, through mutual agreement, have been elevated to the rank of ambassador. So bilateral relations between the two countries are now at the ambassadorial level, and that process, in our view, is complete,” he said.

The spokesman was responding to a volley of questions at his weekly briefing regarding the announcement made by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on May 30.

He said the Afghan envoy in Islamabad now enjoys the protocol accorded to an ambassador. “So this process is complete. The upgradation has taken place. No further action is required. This is our position. There is no need to present credentials.”