NEW DELHI: Afghanistan\u2019s UN-sanctioned foreign minister arrived in India on Thursday, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.<\/p>\n
Amir Khan Muttaqi\u2019s trip \u2014 made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a travel waiver \u2014 is expected to be closely watched by India\u2019s arch-rival Pakistan, as New Delhi deepens its engagement with the Taliban government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,\u201d Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, offering Muttaqi a \u201cwarm welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muttaqi, who met with India\u2019s top career diplomat Vikram Misri in January in Dubai, is set to hold talks with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.<\/p>\n
Neither side has disclosed the agenda, but analysts say trade and security are likely to be at the forefront \u2014 though India is unlikely, for now, to extend formal recognition to the Taliban government.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Delhi is eager to establish its influence in Kabul… and not be left behind by its arch-rivals, China and Pakistan,\u201d International Crisis Group analyst Praveen Donthi told AFP.<\/p>\n
Muttaqi\u2019s visit follows meetings in Russia \u2014 the only country so far to have officially recognized the Taliban administration.<\/p>\n
But while the Taliban are \u201cseeking diplomatic recognition and legitimacy,\u201d Donthi said, others noted that was some way off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia is not in a hurry to provide diplomatic recognition to the Taliban,\u201d Rakesh Sood, India\u2019s former ambassador to Kabul, told AFP.<\/p>\n
India has long hosted tens of thousands of Afghans, many who fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan\u2019s embassy in New Delhi shut in 2023, although consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad still operate limited services.<\/p>\n
India says its mission in Kabul is limited to coordinating humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI: Afghanistan\u2019s UN-sanctioned foreign minister arrived in India on Thursday, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces. Amir Khan Muttaqi\u2019s trip \u2014 made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a travel waiver \u2014 is expected to be closely …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":87914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87916,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87902\/revisions\/87916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}