A senior Indian diplomat has met with ‘Afghan authorities’ in Kabul, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Friday. The development came months after the embassy of Afghanistan here that was earlier run by officials with affiliation to the pre-Taliban government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was shut down and the consular responsibilities were taken over by Afghan officials who are considered to be pro-Taliban.
“An Indian delegation led by Joint Secretary (PAI), Ministry of External Affairs is on a visit to Afghanistan…During the visit, the delegation held meetings with senior members of the Afghan authorities. The delegation held discussions on India’s humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan and also discussed use of Chabahar port by Afghan traders,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. J.P. Singh, the official in-charge of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran — PAI-related issues, met Taliban’s foreign affairs in charge Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday.
Mr. Singh had visited Kabul in 2022 as India had begun making the first moves to reconnect with Afghanistan, after the violent overthrow of the Ashraf Ghani government in August 2021. That visit was followed by renewed delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. On Thursday, Taliban’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi was the first to announce that Mr. Singh had met with the ‘foreign minister’ of the Taliban set-up.
