Taliban recognition is a key issue; it is unclear if Delhi will raise past terror acts, girls’ education, human rights concerns; Mr. Muttaqi to visit Deoband’s Dar ul Uloom seminary, Taj Mahal in Agra
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will meet Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi for a formal meeting on Friday (October 10, 2025), the first time New Delhi has officially hosted a leader of the Taliban regime that took power in Kabul in 2021.
Mr. Muttaqi, who is on a week-long official visit to India, arrived in Delhi on Thursday (October 9) morning accompanied by a delegation of five Taliban officials to a “warm welcome” from the Modi government. The delegation will also travel to Deoband to visit the Dar ul Uloom seminary, the home of the ideological roots of the Taliban group, on Saturday (October 11). On Sunday (October 12), Mr. Muttaqi will travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, which sources said he had requested.
“A warm welcome to Afghan Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi on his arrival in New Delhi,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on its channel on Thursday (October 9). “We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,” it added.
Mr. Muttaqi, who was a Minister in the previous Taliban regime from 1996-2001, is also on the United Nations Security Council’s List of sanctioned terrorists. He is in Delhi after two attempts by India to request permission for the visit.
Possible meet with Doval
During the visit allowed from October 9 to 16, Mr. Muttaqi will address the media, speak at the Vivekananda International Foundation think-tank, and interact with businessmen and Afghan traders at an event hosted by business chamber FICCI.
He is also expected to meet with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. If that meeting is confirmed, it will be particularly significant as Mr. Doval was the seniormost official who travelled to Kandahar in December 1999 to negotiate the release of hostages on board IC-814, where the Taliban government facilitated the handover of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and other terrorists freed from Indian prisons, to Pakistani officials.
No clarity on Taliban recognition
While Mr. Muttaqi’s visit marks a public shift in New Delhi’s position on engaging with the Taliban, the MEA has not responded to questions about whether the government plans to accord the Taliban government full diplomatic recognition, as only Russia has done thus far. There is also no clarity on whether the government will adopt the Taliban’s black-and-white flag or the renaming of the previous Republican government in Kabul as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, as China, Pakistan, the UAE, and some Central Asian states have done.
Of particular interest will be the visit of Mr. Muttaqi and the Taliban officials to the Embassy of the Afghan Republic in the capital, where diplomats still pledge allegiance to the previous government, and to the Afghan Democratic Republic’s red, green and black tricolour. Despite several attempts, the Taliban Foreign Ministry has been unable to appoint a diplomat to head the Embassy in Delhi, and the former Hyderabad Consul-General Syed Muhammad Ibrahimkhel is officiating as the Charge d’Affaires at present.
Taiban’s tensions with Pakistan
Mr. Muttaqi’s visit to India is also being considered a sign of the Taliban’s tensions with Pakistan over the past few months, despite efforts by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to broker a settlement over border issues, terror strikes, and the issue of repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
In contrast, New Delhi, which originally shut down the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2021, reopened it in 2022, and has been sending increasing levels of humanitarian aid and development assistance, and engaging Taliban officials at various levels. During talks on Friday, officials are expected to discuss transit routes for trade, given that Pakistan has closed off India-Afghanistan cargo traffic, and the U.S. has now imposed sanctions on the Chabahar port in Iran that India was developing as an alternate route. Both sides will discuss increasing visas, and Indian assistance in education and skills training for Afghan youth.
Thorny issues
It is unclear, however, whether India will raise thorny issues such as the Taliban’s past terrorist attacks, including a suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2008 in which a senior Indian diplomat and a defence attaché were killed, attacks on other missions and development projects like the Zaranj Delaram Highway, as well as the killing of Indian journalist Danish Siddiqui, who was shot dead by Taliban militia in Kandahar in July 2021. The MEA also declined to respond to a question about whether officials would discuss concerns over the Taliban’s banning of girls’ education, and other human rights violations, with Mr. Muttaqi.
The acting FM’s visit comes days after India participated in the Russia-led Moscow Format consultations where Mr. Muttaqi was inducted as a “member” for the first time. In a joint statement, India also joined Pakistan, China and other countries in the 10-nation grouping to criticise the U.S. plan to re-acquire the Bagram airbase handed over by retreating U.S. troops after the Taliban takeover.
Taliban Minister Muttaqi gets ‘warm welcome’; to meet Jaishankar on October 10
Taliban recognition is a key issue; it is unclear if Delhi will raise past terror acts, girls’ education, human rights concerns; Mr. Muttaqi to visit Deoband’s Dar ul Uloom seminary, Taj Mahal in Agra
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will meet Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi for a formal meeting on Friday (October 10, 2025), the first time New Delhi has officially hosted a leader of the Taliban regime that took power in Kabul in 2021.
Mr. Muttaqi, who is on a week-long official visit to India, arrived in Delhi on Thursday (October 9) morning accompanied by a delegation of five Taliban officials to a “warm welcome” from the Modi government. The delegation will also travel to Deoband to visit the Dar ul Uloom seminary, the home of the ideological roots of the Taliban group, on Saturday (October 11). On Sunday (October 12), Mr. Muttaqi will travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, which sources said he had requested.
“A warm welcome to Afghan Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi on his arrival in New Delhi,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on its channel on Thursday (October 9). “We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,” it added.
Mr. Muttaqi, who was a Minister in the previous Taliban regime from 1996-2001, is also on the United Nations Security Council’s List of sanctioned terrorists. He is in Delhi after two attempts by India to request permission for the visit.
Possible meet with Doval
During the visit allowed from October 9 to 16, Mr. Muttaqi will address the media, speak at the Vivekananda International Foundation think-tank, and interact with businessmen and Afghan traders at an event hosted by business chamber FICCI.
He is also expected to meet with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. If that meeting is confirmed, it will be particularly significant as Mr. Doval was the seniormost official who travelled to Kandahar in December 1999 to negotiate the release of hostages on board IC-814, where the Taliban government facilitated the handover of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and other terrorists freed from Indian prisons, to Pakistani officials.
No clarity on Taliban recognition
While Mr. Muttaqi’s visit marks a public shift in New Delhi’s position on engaging with the Taliban, the MEA has not responded to questions about whether the government plans to accord the Taliban government full diplomatic recognition, as only Russia has done thus far. There is also no clarity on whether the government will adopt the Taliban’s black-and-white flag or the renaming of the previous Republican government in Kabul as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, as China, Pakistan, the UAE, and some Central Asian states have done.
Of particular interest will be the visit of Mr. Muttaqi and the Taliban officials to the Embassy of the Afghan Republic in the capital, where diplomats still pledge allegiance to the previous government, and to the Afghan Democratic Republic’s red, green and black tricolour. Despite several attempts, the Taliban Foreign Ministry has been unable to appoint a diplomat to head the Embassy in Delhi, and the former Hyderabad Consul-General Syed Muhammad Ibrahimkhel is officiating as the Charge d’Affaires at present.
Taiban’s tensions with Pakistan
Mr. Muttaqi’s visit to India is also being considered a sign of the Taliban’s tensions with Pakistan over the past few months, despite efforts by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to broker a settlement over border issues, terror strikes, and the issue of repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
In contrast, New Delhi, which originally shut down the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2021, reopened it in 2022, and has been sending increasing levels of humanitarian aid and development assistance, and engaging Taliban officials at various levels. During talks on Friday, officials are expected to discuss transit routes for trade, given that Pakistan has closed off India-Afghanistan cargo traffic, and the U.S. has now imposed sanctions on the Chabahar port in Iran that India was developing as an alternate route. Both sides will discuss increasing visas, and Indian assistance in education and skills training for Afghan youth.
Thorny issues
It is unclear, however, whether India will raise thorny issues such as the Taliban’s past terrorist attacks, including a suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2008 in which a senior Indian diplomat and a defence attaché were killed, attacks on other missions and development projects like the Zaranj Delaram Highway, as well as the killing of Indian journalist Danish Siddiqui, who was shot dead by Taliban militia in Kandahar in July 2021. The MEA also declined to respond to a question about whether officials would discuss concerns over the Taliban’s banning of girls’ education, and other human rights violations, with Mr. Muttaqi.
The acting FM’s visit comes days after India participated in the Russia-led Moscow Format consultations where Mr. Muttaqi was inducted as a “member” for the first time. In a joint statement, India also joined Pakistan, China and other countries in the 10-nation grouping to criticise the U.S. plan to re-acquire the Bagram airbase handed over by retreating U.S. troops after the Taliban takeover.
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