Senior Taliban ministers visit Delhi, FM Muttaqi’s India trip likely by year-end

New Delhi: Underscoring the steady deepening of ties between India and the ruling regime in Kabul, two senior Taliban ministers landed in New Delhi recently, highly-placed sources confirmed to the IANS on Friday.

They revealed that Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Medicine and Food, Hamdullah Zahid, was in the Indian capital last week for the 11th edition of International Exhibition on Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare (iPHEX 2025).

Zahid, who arrived with a team of officials, held meetings with the Indian Chamber of Commerce and FICCI, before quietly departing two days ago.

Sources told IANS that another top Taliban official handling security and strategic affairs is also in New Delhi, holding active discussions with Indian counterparts on key issues.

The senior leader, whose identity cannot be revealed at the moment, is one of the top officials in the Taliban leadership. Interestingly, his visit to New Delhi comes at a time when the Durand Line remains on the boil amidst increasing tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Islamabad has accused Kabul of shielding Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cadre and recently even conducted cross-border air attacks, inviting strong criticism from the Taliban leadership.

In recent days, the Pakistani media has reported the movement of nearly 8000–10000 TTP fighters from Afghan soil into Pakistan, triggering panic in Islamabad’s already fragile security establishment, which is battling simultaneous insurgencies from both TTP and Baloch activists.

The visit of two ministers to New Delhi comes barely two weeks after IANS revealed that Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi had cancelled his proposed India visit at the last moment.

India has so far refrained from granting formal recognition to the Taliban regime. However, from reopening the Embassy in Kabul to dispatching continuous humanitarian aid – especially after last month’s deadly earthquake – New Delhi continues to maintain regular contact with the Taliban regime.

Notably, Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad have already been handed over to Taliban-appointed diplomats.

Sources hinted that the New Delhi mission could be next in what would mark a dramatic shift in India’s diplomatic posture.

“Delhi is engaging with the Taliban regime and is likely to strengthen this engagement further, given the regional context and its national interest,” a senior Afghan leader told IANS.

Another Taliban leader who did not wish to be named, said, “Our relations with India are progressing, although at a slow pace. But, it seems that our Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will finally be visiting Delhi by the end of this year and that would be a big moment for our bilateral relations.”

Experts reckon that the back-to-back visits of Taliban ministers to Delhi underline a new geopolitical churn in the region with India emerging as a quiet, but decisive player.

IANS