Mumbai: Afghan Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will visit India next week after the UNSC granted him a waiver from international travel restrictions. This will be the first trip to New Delhi by a senior Taliban leader since the group seized Kabul in August 2021.
UNSC Allows Muttaqi’s India Visit
Officials confirmed that the UNSC’s 1988 sanctions committee approved an exemption on September 30, permitting Muttaqi to travel to India between October 9 and 16. He is expected to meet external affairs minister S Jaishankar on October 10. Muttaqi was earlier unable to visit in September when the waiver was blocked, reportedly due to objections from the US and Pakistan.
The visit is being seen as a careful recalibration by India— strengthening working ties with the Taliban without formally recognising its regime. New Delhi re-established a diplomatic presence in Kabul in mid-2022 to safeguard regional interests and counter China’s growing influence.
Taliban Eyes Wider Embassy Role in India
Taliban officials are expected to push for expanding their diplomatic representation at the Afghan embassy in Delhi and consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad. The trip comes amid frayed Taliban Pakistan relations and days after a nationwide communications blackout in Afghanistan drew criticism. For Taliban, the New Delhi visit is another step in seeking legitimacy. For India, it offers a channel to secure commitments on counter-terrorism—particularly after the Taliban condemned the Pahalgam terror attack in April by Pakistan-based proxies. Muttaqi’s Delhi trip will follow his October 6 stopover in Russia.
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