Afghan Acting FM Amir Khan Muttaqi Begins First-Ever Taliban-Era Visit To India After UN Travel Ban Relaxation

New Delhi: Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi landed in New Delhi on Thursday. It was the first official visit for Muttaqi, who has been placed on a travel ban by the UNSC Taliban Sanctions Committee since January 25, 2001, and the first for a Taliban leader ever since the group took power in 2021.

The ban was relaxed by the UN for one week on September 30, allowing him to visit New Delhi from October 9 to 16.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jasiwal welcomed Muttaqi on X: “We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues.”

While nothing has been publicly revealed about his agenda, MEA sources confirm Muttaqi will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. He is scheduled to visit the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary and the Taj Mahal, apart from meeting business groups and members of the Afghan community.

The trip will be seen as another win for the Taliban after their government received official recognition from Russia. While India has not yet officially recognised the government, bilateral ties have warmed after Taliban’s condemnation of Pahalgam terror attack that led to Jaishankar posting on X that he had a “good conversation” with the Taliban’s acting foreign minister.

The conversation was then followed up by the sending of aid to Afghanistan after an earthquake. This has led to the big question: how far will New Delhi go to “reset” ties with the Taliban?

Some senior Afghan analysts believe India has no choice as it needs Afghanistan to operationalise projects like the Chabahar port. Connectivity to Central Asia is also not possible without Afghanistan. There is also the question of militant groups within Afghanistan for which cooperation with the Taliban is needed.

Dr Nilofar Sakhi, Afghan expert and lecturer of International Affairs at George Washington University, disagrees with this assessment. She believes that no nation should look to the Taliban to stop militancy, as historically militant groups have emerged through disgruntled members within the Taliban.

“There were Taliban members within the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP) when they emerged in 2015. The same is true of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Jamaate-Ansarullah. In fact, the Taliban recruited members of Jamaat-e-Ansarullah in the northern part of Afghanistan in 2022. These groups have strong links that have not gone away.”

Asked how she viewed the visit of Muttaqi, Dr Sakhi hoped New Delhi remembers the realities the people in Afghanistan were living in. “Afghanistan considers India a friend. And right now, Afghanistan is going through hardship, through severe human rights violations. Half of the population are being deprived of their fundamental rights. Security is not good in the country.”

But the situation is complex. The UN mandate for Afghanistan has not worked, as there has been relatively little pressure on the Taliban to comply. And with each nation worried about various terror threats emanating from Afghanistan, cooperation seems the best option.

Dr Sakhi acknowledges this but believes engagement with the Taliban must be matched with pressure for a more inclusive political process in Afghanistan, where non-Taliban members can have a voice. “The Taliban want to have a stronghold in Afghanistan where nobody can interfere, and no other opposition group can emerge. Recognition for them is a way to achieve that sustainability. Therefore, the connections that they are making with the regional countries matter,” she said.