{"id":3212,"date":"2025-10-09T10:35:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/09\/taliban-fm-begins-first-visit-by-senior-afghan-leader-to-india-since-2021\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T10:35:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T10:35:32","slug":"taliban-fm-begins-first-visit-by-senior-afghan-leader-to-india-since-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/09\/taliban-fm-begins-first-visit-by-senior-afghan-leader-to-india-since-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Taliban FM begins first visit by senior Afghan leader to India since 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Amir Khan Muttaqi\u2019s trip made possible after a UN committee temporarily lifted a travel ban on him to allow diplomatic engagements abroad.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Afghanistan\u2019s United Nations-sanctioned foreign minister has arrived in India, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021, following the withdrawal of United States-led forces and the fall of Kabul.<\/p>\n<p>Amir Khan Muttaqi\u2019s trip on Thursday was made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a travel waiver and is expected to be closely watched by India\u2019s regional foe Pakistan, as New Delhi deepens its engagement with the Taliban government.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/9\/no-to-trump-why-afghanistans-neighbours-have-opposed-us-bagram-plan\">No to Trump: Why Afghanistan\u2019s neighbours have opposed US Bagram plan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/8\/regional-powers-signal-objection-to-us-reclaiming-afghanistans-bagram-base\">Regional powers signal objection to US reclaiming Afghanistan\u2019s Bagram base<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/1\/the-taliban-rejects-reports-of-nationwide-internet-ban-in-afghanistan\">The Taliban rejects reports of nationwide internet ban in Afghanistan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/10\/1\/taliban-denies-intentionally-banning-internet-services-in-afghanistan\">Taliban denies intentionally banning internet services in Afghanistan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cWe look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,\u201d Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, offering Muttaqi a \u201cwarm welcome\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Muttaqi, who met with India\u2019s foreign secretary Vikram Misri in January in Dubai, is set to hold talks with its external affairs minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.<\/p>\n<p>Neither side has disclosed the agenda, but trade and security are likely to be at the forefront, although India has not extended its formal recognition to the Taliban government yet.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"moscow-s-recognition\">Moscow\u2019s recognition<\/h2>\n<p>The trip highlights Taliban efforts to expand engagement with regional powers in a quest for economic ties and eventual diplomatic recognition.<\/p>\n<p>Muttaqi\u2019s visit follows meetings in Russia \u2013 the only country so far to have officially recognised the Taliban administration.<\/p>\n<p>India has long hosted tens of thousands of Afghans, many who fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.<\/p>\n<p>Afghanistan\u2019s embassy in New Delhi shut in 2023, although consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad still operate limited services.<\/p>\n<p>India says its mission in Kabul is limited to coordinating humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Muttaqi attended a regional meeting in Moscow where Afghanistan\u2019s neighbours, including India, Pakistan, Iran, China and several Central Asian countries, issued a joint statement opposing the deployment of foreign military infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n<p>The statement, a rare showing of a unified front, was regarded as a signal of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/9\/no-to-trump-why-afghanistans-neighbours-have-opposed-us-bagram-plan\">opposition<\/a> to US President Donald Trump\u2019s stated <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/8\/regional-powers-signal-objection-to-us-reclaiming-afghanistans-bagram-base\">objective<\/a> to retake control of the Bagram military base near Kabul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amir Khan Muttaqi\u2019s trip made possible after a UN committee temporarily lifted a travel ban on him to allow diplomatic engagements abroad. Afghanistan\u2019s United Nations-sanctioned foreign minister has arrived in India, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021, following the withdrawal of United States-led forces and the &#8230; <a title=\"Taliban FM begins first visit by senior Afghan leader to India since 2021\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/09\/taliban-fm-begins-first-visit-by-senior-afghan-leader-to-india-since-2021\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Taliban FM begins first visit by senior Afghan leader to India since 2021\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}