Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, will be meeting the external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, on Friday. But ahead of the meeting, the Taliban are reportedly aiming to secure diplomatic recognition from India. Various reports say that Muttaqi will raise this with S Jaishankar
Muttaqi arrived in New Delhi on Thursday for a week-long visit. The purpose of his visit is to strengthen India’s growing economic ties and people-to-people connections with Kabul. However, India has not yet officially recognised the Taliban government that currently rules Afghanistan.
Ahead of the meeting with Jaishankar, a top Taliban leader told Times of India that it’s time for both the governments to elevate the relationship by granting recognition to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), the name used by Taliban for the country.
“It is the first high level visit by our foreign minister to India and is very significant. We expect it will initiate a new phase of relations between the two countries. There are a lot of areas which can be explored for mutual cooperation during this visit,” the head of Taliban’s political office and Afghanistan’s ambassador to Qatar Suhail Shaheen was quoted as saying by TOI.
What Taliban wants ahead of Muttaqi-Jaishankar meet
“It is the first high level visit by our foreign minister to India and is very significant. We expect it will initiate a new phase of relations between the two countries. There are a lot of areas which can be explored for mutual cooperation during this visit,” said the head of Taliban’s political office and Afghanistan’s ambassador to Qatar Suhail Shaheen. “I think it is time for leadership of both countries to raise the diplomatic level by granting recognition to IEA government and thus paving the way for bilateral cooperation and expansion of relations in various fields,” added Shaheen as quoted by The Times of India.
The UN Security Council allowed Muttaqi to travel to India by waiving a travel ban. India’s willingness to host him shows growing trust between the two countries, as the Taliban urge India to expand its economic presence in Afghanistan. The visit also provides India an opportunity to benefit from the worsening relationship between the Taliban and Pakistan, since Pakistan accuses Kabul of supporting the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
