The five-day visit of Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to India is being accorded greater significance than the routine visits of other foreign dignitaries or ministers, and not without reasons. Firstly, although informal communication and cooperation between India and Afghanistan has been active, India has yet to officially recognise the current Taliban regime. Observers believe this visit could pave the way for the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. Secondly, Amir Khan Muttaqi, a key Taliban leader visiting India, is one on the terrorist list and under sanctions of UN Security Council. No country has not taken any proactive steps in line with the sanction and now the UN has granted a temporary exemption to his travel ban for the period between the 9th and 16th of this month. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will alsohold official talks with Muttaqi.
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After the end of the American occupation of Afghanistan in 2021, the US-backed government in Kabul was overthrown, and its leaders fled the country. The Taliban, which had already seized control of much of Afghanistan, subsequently took control of the entire country. Several countries have maintained limited engagement and transactions with the Taliban regime, but so far Russia remains the only nation to have officially recognised it. When that recognition happened in July this year, several factors probably influenced the decision — its strategic position in the region, close ties with a neighbouring country of geopolitical importance, Afghanistan’s rich mineral potential, and the prospect of developing it into a trade hub connecting countries beyond its borders. India, too, may be shaping its approach toward Afghanistan with similar considerations in mind.
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The visiting minister will be treated with usual protocol in Delhi. Earlier, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had held discussions with Muttaqi in Dubai last January. India is expected to revisit similar issues during the Delhi talks. As part of the cooperation framework, Kabul seeks cultural exchange, and relations similar to or expanding participation in Afghanistan’s development initiatives, supply of essential goods including food items and humanitarian assistance during disasters such as earthquakes. Although the Indian embassy in Kabul was closed following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, India soon re-established a limited presence there through a technical mission. India also participated in the 10-nation Moscow Format conference in Russia, alongside Afghanistan where China, Iran, Pakistan, and the Central Asian countries were present. All this are seen to presage formal diplomatic engagement in the near future. Observers also noted that at the Moscow meet, it was the new black-and-white Taliban flag that was displayed at the conference, rather than the UN-recognised tricolor of the previous Afghan government.
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Significantly, in a joint statement issued after the above-mentioned talks in Russia, the participating countries had condemned the idea of some countries developing military facilities in Afghanistan and neighboring countries, the apparent reference being to the US. For Trump had demanded that the Bagram air base, which Joe Biden had closed along with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, be returned to the American military. The closure was also a declaration of the Taliban government's refusal to meet the US demand. India’s expression of support for the Taliban is seen by some as a strategic response to such intentions of Washington. Along with strengthening relations with powers such as China and Russia, India has also been trying to send some international messages by establishing official relations with Afghanistan. But on the approach towards the Taliban, the United States and many Western countries have cited human rights restrictions and the denial of education and freedom to women as obstacles to establishing relations with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. But at another level, most countries were hoping that the new leadership of the Taliban would adopt a more liberal approach towards them in principle. Moreover, many countries also have the view that such changes can only be achieved by engaging with that government rather than isolating it. It can be assumed that India’s initiative to work together with Afghanistan is also guided by such well-defined approaches on these issues.
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