Ahead of Muttaqi-Jaishankar meet, Taliban seek India’s diplomatic recognition for Islamic Emirate

The UNSC committee on September 30 approved a temporary exemption to the travel ban allowing Muttaqi to visit New Delhi from October 9 to 16

As Afghanistan’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi meets external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday, the Taliban are reportedly aiming to secure diplomatic recognition from India.

Muttaqi landed in the national capital on Thursday for a week-long visit aimed at strengthening India’s rapidly expanding economic ties and people-to-people engagement with Kabul, though New Delhi has yet to grant formal recognition to the regime in Kabul.

Ahead of the meeting with Jaishankar, a top Taliban leader told Times of India that it’s time for both the governments to elevate the relationship by granting recognition to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), the name used by Taliban for the country.

“It is the first high level visit by our foreign minister to India and is very significant. We expect it will initiate a new phase of relations between the two countries. There are a lot of areas which can be explored for mutual cooperation during this visit,” the head of Taliban’s political office and Afghanistan’s ambassador to Qatar Suhail Shaheen was quoted as saying by TOI.

“I think it is time for leadership of both countries to raise the diplomatic level by granting recognition to IEA government and thus paving the way for bilateral cooperation and expansion of relations in various fields,” added Shaheen.

Muttaqi’s India visit

During his India trip, Muttaqi is expected to hold talks with national security advisor Ajit Doval beside S Jaishankar. "Warm welcome to Afghan Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi on his arrival in New Delhi," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on social media.

"We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues," he said.

Muttaqi's engagements include a visit to Deoband, the birthplace of the Deobandi school of thought, according to a report by CNN-News18. He is also expected to visit Taj Mahal.

The Afghan foreign minister was scheduled to visit New Delhi last month but it was called off in view of a travel ban that he faced under UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions.

The UNSC committee on September 30 approved a temporary exemption to the travel ban allowing Muttaqi to visit New Delhi from October 9 to 16, according to a statement by the UN.

The exemption paved the way for the Afghan foreign minister to visit India.

The UN Security Council had slapped sanctions against all the leading Taliban leaders and they need to secure a waiver for foreign travels.