Taliban call India ‘significant regional partner’ after meeting of officials | Taliban news
Senior officials from the two countries’ foreign ministries are holding talks at the highest level since the Afghan group took over Kabul in 2021.
The Taliban called India an “important regional and economic partner” after a meeting between senior officials from the two countries’ foreign ministries, the highest such talks since the Afghan group took over Kabul in 2021.
Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri met Taliban Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on Wednesday, reports said.
In a later statement, Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said they discussed expanding their relations and boosting trade through the port of Chabahar in Iran, which India was developing for goods that would bypass the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.
“In line with Afghanistan’s balanced economic-oriented foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate aims to strengthen political and economic ties with India as an important regional and economic partner,” the statement said.
India’s foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting that New Delhi with regard to engagement in development projects in Afghanistan and want to boost trade ties.
India, which hosts thousands of Afghan refugees, also said it would provide “material support” for their rehabilitation at home. Approximately one million refugees have been returned to Afghanistan by Pakistan and Iran since the end of 2023.
“In response to the request of the Afghan side, India will provide further material support primarily to the health sector and the rehabilitation of refugees,” the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Afghan officials say they have already begun distributing land to returned Afghan refugees.
India also said it offered additional support to Afghanistan’s health sector as the two countries discussed strengthening sports ties, particularly in cricket.
No foreign government, including India, officially admits Taliban administration. Yet in June 2022, less than a year after the Taliban returned to power, India reopened its embassy in Kabul, sending a team of “technical experts” to lead the mission.
Meanwhile, the Afghan embassy in New Delhi was closed in November 2023 after diplomats appointed by the Taliban-ousted Afghan government failed to secure visa extensions from their Indian hosts.
However, in November last year, the Taliban announced the appointment of Ikramuddin Kamil as acting consul in Mumbai.
India is also one of several countries that facilitate trade, aid and medical support and has sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban.
New Delhi has so far sent several shipments to Afghanistan consisting of wheat, medicines, vaccines against COVID and winter clothes.
Wednesday’s meeting came in the middle growing tensions between Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, which last week launched an operation to destroy what it called armed groups in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province. Islamabad claims Pakistani Taliban group is using Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.
Dozens of people, primarily women and children, were killed in the strikes. Earlier this week, India’s Ministry of External Affairs told reporters that it condemned the airstrikes carried out on Afghan soil.
India and Pakistan have long been rivals and have fought three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.
On Wednesday, the Afghan side stressed its sensitivity to India’s security concerns and said they “agreed to stay in touch and continue regular contacts at various levels,” an Indian statement said.
