Taliban Says India Wants Broader Cooperation, Trade With Afghanistan

According to an Afghan statement, India’s point-person for Afghanistan, J P Singh, met with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban, on Thursday to address matters pertaining to trade, security, and counternarcotics measures.

Singh said that India is eager to deepen its economic ties with Afghanistan and boost commerce via the port of Chabahar. The statement did not specify where the conference was held, although it is assumed that it took place in Kabul.

According to the readout, Muttaqi expressed thanks to India for its humanitarian support and said that Kabul wished to reinforce its political and economic ties with India.

“Today, IEA-Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi received a call from JP Singh, the MEA Joint Secretary of the Republic of India for Af-Ir-Pak. The meeting’s main topics of discussion were defeating ISKP and corruption in the nation, as well as bilateral ties between Afghanistan and India. The spokesman for the Taliban-controlled ministry of foreign affairs in Afghanistan, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, wrote on X.

“Singh said that India is interested in expanding political & economic cooperation with Afghanistan, & enhancing trade via Chabahar Port,” he added.

According to Balkhi, Muttaqi urged the top Indian ambassador to expedite the process of granting visas to nationals of Afghanistan.

“Thanking India for its humanitarian contribution, FM Muttaqi said that the IEA aims to further its political and economic ties with India as a significant player in the region, in keeping with our balanced foreign policy. Finally, FM Muttaqi asked India’s Joint Secretary to expedite the issuing of visas for Afghan patients, students, and businesspeople,” he said.

Singh is in charge of the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran section for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as a senior diplomat.

India supports the creation of an inclusive administration in Kabul but has not yet publicly recognized the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan. Furthermore, India stresses how critical it is to stop terrorists from using Afghan territory to carry out attacks against any country.

In order to alleviate the current humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, India actively advocates for the unhindered distribution of humanitarian supplies.

India sent a “technical team” to its embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul in June 2022 to reestablish diplomatic ties. This choice was made after Indian personnel left the embassy in August 2021 because of worries about their safety after the Taliban took over.