In a first, India holds talks with Taliban government in Afghanistan

A senior Indian official held talks with Taliban acting defence minister Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid on Wednesday, reports said. This is the first time India has held official dialogue with the group since the latter took over the government of Afghanistan in 2021.

Reports said the meeting between MEA joint secretary J.P. Singh and Yaqub took place in Kabul following Taliban’s repeated assurance that they won’t allow the Afghanistan territory to be used against India.

Yaqub is the son of Taliban founder and late supreme leader Mullah Omar.

Singh, who is the MEA’s pointperson for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, also met Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai.

“The two sides emphasised their common desire to expand bilateral relations, especially in the fields of humanitarian cooperation and other issues, and expressed their interest in strengthening further interactions between Afghanistan and India,” the Taliban defence ministry said in a post on X.

A Times of India report quoted an Afghan official as saying that the meetings are a sign that New Delhi is ready to expand its humanitarian assistance and reconstruction efforts in the war-torn country.

India, however, has not made any official statement on the meetings.

Karzai said in a post on X that he and Singh discussed the historic ties between the two countries and emphasised on strengthening the bilateral relations “as much as possible”.

Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s rule following the withdrawal of the US forces, the organisation has expressed its willingness for stronger ties with India and urged New Delhi to allow the appointment of its diplomat.