New Delhi: In a first, a senior Indian government functionary has met officially with the acting Taliban defence minister of Afghanistan.
The meeting took place between the joint secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, J.P. Singh, who is in charge of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, and Molvi Muhammad Yaqoob Mujahid.
Yaqoob is a deputy leader of Afghanistan and has been the Taliban’s military chief since 2020.
The meeting took place in Kabul on November 5.
A report by Times of India notes that Singh also met Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and former Afghan president Hamid Karzai. This was his second visit to Kabul this year.
The meeting highlighted both sides’ willingness to develop bilateral relations, especially on humanitarian cooperation and to strengthen interaction between Afghanistan and India.
India in alignment with international consensus, does not recognise the Taliban regime.
In May 2023, The Wire had been the first to report that the Taliban government tried to replace the Afghan ambassador to India, who was appointed by the previous Islamic Republic, with another diplomat, Qadir Shah as Chargé d’affaires.
Following the departure of Afghan ambassador Farid Mamundzay and most Afghan diplomats last year, consular needs of the large Afghan community in India – including students – had been thrown into uncertainty.