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NEW DELHI: Afghanistan’s UN-sanctioned foreign minister arrived in India on Thursday, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.
Amir Khan Muttaqi’s trip — made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a travel waiver — is expected to be closely watched by India’s arch-rival Pakistan, as New Delhi deepens its engagement with the Taliban government.
“We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, offering Muttaqi a “warm welcome.”
Muttaqi, who met with India’s top career diplomat Vikram Misri in January in Dubai, is set to hold talks with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Neither side has disclosed the agenda, but analysts say trade and security are likely to be at the forefront — though India is unlikely, for now, to extend formal recognition to the Taliban government.
“New Delhi is eager to establish its influence in Kabul... and not be left behind by its arch-rivals, China and Pakistan,” International Crisis Group analyst Praveen Donthi told AFP.
Muttaqi’s visit follows meetings in Russia — the only country so far to have officially recognized the Taliban administration.
But while the Taliban are “seeking diplomatic recognition and legitimacy,” Donthi said, others noted that was some way off.
“India is not in a hurry to provide diplomatic recognition to the Taliban,” Rakesh Sood, India’s former ambassador to Kabul, told AFP.
India has long hosted tens of thousands of Afghans, many who fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.
Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi shut in 2023, although consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad still operate limited services.
India says its mission in Kabul is limited to coordinating humanitarian aid.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration said Wednesday it fired a State Department employee who did not acknowledge a romantic relationship with a Chinese national.
“The State Department has officially terminated the employment of a Foreign Service officer who admitted concealing a romantic relationship with a Chinese national with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
The State Department said the officer, a man whom it did not identify, said on camera that the Chinese woman “could have been a spy” but did not say if there was any proof of espionage.
The dismissed employee said his partner’s father was “straight-up communist party,” according to the State Department.
The Chinese Communist Party permeates life in the billion-plus country in areas from business to education, with many ordinary Chinese maintaining ties out of practicality as much as ideology.
The State Department said it was the first known dismissal taken under an executive order signed by Trump shortly after returning to office in which he ordered that all employees “faithfully implement the president’s policy.”
“We will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any employee who is caught undermining our country’s national security,” Pigott said.
The United States earlier this year said it would restrict employees in China from entering romantic relationships with locals, a rare step reminiscent of the Cold War.