SRINAGAR: In what is being seen as the most significant diplomatic engagement between India and Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has said Kabul will soon send its diplomats to India as part of a “step-by-step” effort to restore full bilateral relations.
Muttaqi, who arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a six-day visit, is the first senior Taliban minister to visit India since the group seized power four years ago. The visit assumes greater significance as both India and Afghanistan are at odds with Pakistan over cross-border terrorism and regional security issues.
Speaking to a select group of journalists after holding wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Muttaqi said that India has agreed to upgrade its technical mission in Kabul to the status of a full embassy. “The Foreign Minister (S Jaishankar) said you can send diplomats to New Delhi now. When we go back, we will select people and send them,” Muttaqi said.
He added that the move reflects “steady progress” in bilateral relations. “This is my first visit to India and it was decided that India will upgrade its technical mission in Kabul to a diplomatic mission and our diplomats will come to New Delhi. Gradually, the goal is to take things to normal,” he said, speaking from the Afghan embassy’s conference room beneath a large painting of the Bamiyan Buddhas, destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
In response to a question about the control of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi—currently staffed by diplomats from the former Ashraf Ghani administration—Muttaqi asserted: “It is with Afghanistan; it belongs to us.”
During his talks with Jaishankar, Muttaqi invited Indian businesses to invest in Afghanistan’s mining, energy, and infrastructure sectors and proposed that India and Afghanistan jointly work to revive the stalled Chabahar Port project in Iran. He noted that the US sanctions imposed during the Trump administration had hindered the project’s progress, and urged both countries to “jointly talk with America” to remove these barriers.
“Both Afghanistan and India should try to remove all problems and obstacles in this route. This is the need of both countries because trade between Afghanistan and India last year was more than USD 1 billion,” he said.
Muttaqi also called for reopening the Wagah-Attari land trade route between India and Afghanistan, closed after the Pahalgam terror attack. “The Wagah route is near Afghanistan and trade via this route is cheaper. It is the right of the people—it should not be closed. We appeal to both India and Pakistan to open the Wagah route so that trade can increase,” he said.
He announced that both sides have agreed to form a joint trade committee to address commercial bottlenecks, strengthen air corridors, and increase air trade. “India has decided to broaden its health cooperation in Afghanistan and appreciated our efforts during the recent Kunar earthquake,” Muttaqi said, adding that both sides also discussed narcotics control and regional security.
Addressing Indian concerns about the use of Afghan territory by terrorist organisations, Muttaqi categorically denied the presence of Pakistan-based groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in Afghanistan.
“Not even one inch of soil is controlled by anyone other than the Islamic Emirate. These groups are not present in Afghanistan—they have left in the past four years. We conducted operations against them,” he said. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has proven over the course of the last four years that its territory will not be allowed to be used against others.”
The minister also rejected any possibility of foreign military presence on Afghan soil, saying, “Afghanistan has a long history of safeguarding its independence and sovereignty. We will not allow any military intervention or presence of others.”
When asked about recent explosions in Kabul, Muttaqi appeared to blame Pakistan, saying, “Pakistan had a hand in an attack in the border areas. Afghanistan is an independent country, and when peace comes here, why are others troubled?” He added, “We want good relations with Pakistan, but such relations can only be built from both sides.”
As part of his six-day trip, Muttaqi will travel to Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district on Saturday to visit Darul Uloom Deoband, one of South Asia’s most influential Islamic seminaries. Saharanpur Police said elaborate security arrangements have been made for the visit, during which Muttaqi will meet the seminary’s rector Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani, and other senior clerics.
Mufti Rehan Usmani, the seminary’s office in-charge, said the visit has generated excitement among students and residents. “He will also meet Afghan students enrolled here and tour our historic library,” Usmani said.
On Sunday, Muttaqi will travel to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, where security has been tightened. Officials said he will spend about an hour and a half at the monument before returning to Delhi.
Muttaqi’s India visit marks the first high-level engagement between New Delhi and the Taliban regime since the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government. While India has not formally recognised the Taliban government, the decision to elevate its mission in Kabul to an embassy-level presence and receive the Afghan foreign minister marks a cautious but clear diplomatic recalibration.
Observers say the visit reflects India’s pragmatic recognition of ground realities in Afghanistan and its desire to maintain regional influence amid changing geopolitical dynamics.
As Muttaqi put it, “Gradually, the goal is to take things to normal.”
