New Delhi Confirms Taliban Foreign Minister’s Upcoming Visit to India

DID Press: India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s acting foreign minister, will pay an official visit to New Delhi from 9 to 16 October.

UN Security Council recently granted a temporary travel exemption, allowing Muttaqi to travel abroad for one week.

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters that the exemption had been made public and that “details regarding the Afghan foreign minister’s visit will be updated in due course.”

He noted that diplomatic contacts between India and the Taliban have continued in recent months, citing a May phone conversation between Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Amir Khan Muttaqi as an example of this engagement.

Jaiswal also said that following the recent earthquake in Afghanistan, India dispatched humanitarian aid to Kunar province, with part of the assistance delivered via Chabahar port.

This will mark the first visit by a senior Taliban official to India since the group’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.