NEW DELHI — Interim Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in New Delhi on Thursday for a week-long visit, marking the first trip by a senior Afghan diplomat to India since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, officials said.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal confirmed Muttaqi’s arrival in a post on X, saying: “We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues.”

According to Jaiswal, the UN Security Council Committee granted Muttaqi a travel exemption to allow his visit to India, which will conclude on Oct. 16.

New Delhi closed its embassy in Kabul following the fall of the Western-backed Afghan government in 2021 but partially resumed operations in 2022 with the deployment of a “technical team.”

Since then, India has maintained direct engagement with the Taliban-led interim administration on consular and humanitarian matters.

The visit underscores India’s cautious diplomatic outreach to Afghanistan under Taliban rule, focusing on trade, security, and humanitarian cooperation.

Bilateral trade between Afghanistan and India reached $890 million in 2024, highlighting growing commercial exchanges despite the absence of formal diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government. — Agencies