India and the Taliban want to negotiate commerce, issue visas, and normalize relations

The Indian government and the Taliban are working toward normalizing diplomatic relations, as shown by a delegation from India visiting Kabul to discuss the granting of visas to Afghan businesspeople. The group is also discussing increasing commerce between the two nations, maybe via Iran’s Chabahar port.

The Taliban’s “under-the-radar” seizure of the Afghan embassy in India and the consulate in Mumbai has been made possible by the government. The deteriorating Indian government’s relations with Pakistan have coincided with the Taliban’s strengthening of links, particularly with the Kandahar group.

“JP Singh, Joint Secretary (PAI), MEA, is leading an Indian delegation that is visiting Afghanistan. At a press conference on Thursday, MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said, “As you are aware, India opened its Technical Mission in Kabul in June 2022 and since then, the mission is facilitating and coordinating our ongoing humanitarian assistance endeavours.”

“The delegation held meetings with senior members of Afghan authorities during the visit,” he said. The team also had meetings with representatives of the UN mission in Afghanistan, the Afghan business sector, and former president Hamid Karzai. The group spoke about how India helps Afghans humanitarianly and how Afghan merchants utilize the port of Chabahar.

According to the MEA, the Indian delegation met with top Taliban members on Thursday and had talks about India’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

The delegation will engage with leaders of international organizations involved in aid distribution and supervise the delivery of India’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. It is anticipated that the delegation would also make visits to other locations where Indian initiatives and programs are being carried out.

The two sides were in contact even prior to the Taliban taking over the nation, but Indian intelligence services were the ones in contact with Taliban commanders like Sher Mohamed Stanekzai and Abdul Ghani Baradar. The Taliban established official diplomatic ties for the first time in September 2021 after they took control of Kabul, in Doha, Qatar. Subsequently, India said in June of last year that it had established a “technical team” to supervise humanitarian supplies in Kabul.