Taliban calls India a ‘significant regional partner’ after officials meet

Following a meeting between senior foreign ministry officials of the two nations, which is the highest level discussion since the Afghan group’s takeover of Kabul in 2021, the Taliban described India as a “significant regional and economic partner.”

According to reports, India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri and Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi reportedly met in Dubai on Wednesday.

The Afghan government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a statement that they had discussed expanding their ties and boosting trade with Iran’s Chabahar Port&nbsp, which India has been developing to move goods through Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.

“In line with Afghanistan’s balanced and economy-focused foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate aims to strengthen political and economic ties with India as a significant regional and economic partner”, the statement said.

Following the meeting, India’s foreign ministry announced in a statement that New Delhi was considering pursuing development projects in Afghanistan and boosting trade ties.

India, which hosts thousands of Afghan refugees, also said it will provide “material support” for their rehabilitation back home. Since late 2023, Pakistan and Iran have repatriated about one million refugees to Afghanistan.

India’s foreign ministry stated in its statement that it would provide additional material support in the first instance to the health sector and for the rehabilitation of refugees.

According to Afghan officials, the Afghan refugees who have been repatriated have already begun receiving land.

As the two nations discussed strengthening ties in sports, particularly cricket, India added that it offered additional support to the Afghan health sector.

No foreign government, including India, officially recognises the 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 run the mission.

In addition, the Afghan embassy in New Delhi was shut down in November 2023 because Afghan diplomats hired by the Taliban lacked visa extensions for their Indian hosts.

However, the Taliban made Ikramuddin Kamil its acting consul in Mumbai in November of last year.

In addition to providing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban, India is one of only a few nations that facilitate trade, aid, and medical care.

New Delhi has so far dispatched several shipments consisting of wheat, medicines, COVID vaccines, and winter clothing to Afghanistan.

In response to growing tensions between Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, which last week launched an operation to destroy what it called armed groups in eastern Paktika province, the meeting took place on Wednesday. Kabul refutes Kabul’s claim that the Pakistani Taliban group launched attacks in Pakistan on Afghan soil.

The strikes killed dozens of people, primarily women and children. India’s foreign ministry earlier this week stated that its airstrikes on Afghan soil were against international law.

Since 1947, when India and Pakistan have fought for independence, they have engaged in three conflicts.