KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi departed for New Delhi on Wednesday, marking the first high-level visit to India since the group returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban foreign ministry, said in a post on X that Muttaqi will meet India’s foreign minister and other officials to discuss political, economic, and trade relations, as well as ways to strengthen regional ties.
Muttaqi was granted a travel exemption by the UN Security Council for the visit, scheduled from October 9 to 16. He remains under UN sanctions, like other senior Taliban leaders, and must obtain explicit permission for international travel. A planned trip to Pakistan in August was canceled after the council did not approve a travel exemption.
India closed its embassy in Kabul following the collapse of the Western-backed government and the Taliban’s swift return to power after the U.S. and NATO withdrawal in August 2021. The embassy resumed limited operations in 2022 with a technical team, and New Delhi has recently engaged directly with the Taliban leadership.
In May, India’s External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, spoke with Muttaqi by telephone, marking the first direct contact at that level since the Taliban takeover. In January, India sent a high-level delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to meet Muttaqi in Dubai.
The warming of India–Taliban ties comes amid deteriorating relations between Pakistan and the Taliban. Islamabad has expressed growing frustration with the Taliban over cross-border terrorism, among other issues. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of providing safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Pakistani security personnel and civilians, an allegation the Taliban have consistently denied.
