Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi Arrives in India for High-Level Talks

Afghanistan’s UN-sanctioned Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has arrived in India for a week-long visit, marking the first trip by a top Taliban leader since their return to power in 2021. His travel was made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a waiver.

Muttaqi is expected to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi. The visit aims to deepen India’s engagement with the Taliban-led government in Kabul amid evolving regional dynamics.

However, the visit has created a diplomatic dilemma for Indian officials — whether to display the Taliban flag during official meetings. Since India does not recognize the Taliban regime, it has so far refrained from allowing the Taliban’s white flag at the Afghan Embassy in Delhi.

Muttaqi’s trip underscores a delicate balancing act by New Delhi, which has reopened a small mission in Kabul for humanitarian and trade purposes but continues to maintain that Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism.

The visit also follows India’s participation in a multilateral meeting with Russia, China, and others, where all opposed the presence of any foreign military infrastructure in Afghanistan.