The Indian foreign ministry’s pointperson for Afghanistan met the Taliban’s acting defence minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob for the first time on Wednesday and discussed ways to expand relations between the two sides.
People familiar with the matter described the meeting in Kabul between Yaqoob and JP Singh, joint secretary of the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division of the external affairs ministry, as a significant development. Yaqoob, the son of Taliban founder and late supreme leader Mullah Omar, has not publicly interacted with Indian interlocutors in the past, they said on condition of anonymity.
Singh, who is also joint secretary in the external affairs minister’s office, held separate meetings with the Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and former president Hamid Karzai.
There was no official word from the Indian side on the meetings. Singh, who has largely spearheaded the Indian side’s engagement with the Taliban, was on an unannounced visit to the Afghan capital.
The Taliban’s defence ministry said in a post on X that Yaqoob met an Indian delegation led by Singh and discussed ways to expand relations.
“In this meeting, the two sides emphasised their common desire to expand bilateral relations, especially in the field of humanitarian cooperation and other issues, and expressed their interest in strengthening further interactions between Afghanistan and India,” the defence ministry said in its post in Pashto.
Karzai said in a post on X that he and Singh had discussed the long-standing and historic ties between the two countries and emphasised the on strengthening of bilateral relations “as much as possible”.
While appreciating India’s cooperation with the people of Afghanistan, Karzai said more attention should be paid to the education and training of the Afghan youth, developing trade, and easing travel between the two sides.
Singh has met Muttaki, a senior Taliban leader who played a role in negotiations with the US for the withdrawal of American troops, several times since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Like most other countries, India doesn’t recognise the Taliban regime in Kabul. After pulling out all its diplomats after the Taliban takeover, India re-established an official presence in the Afghan capital by reopening its mission and deploying a “technical team” in June 2022. Since then, the Indian side has engaged the Taliban and provided humanitarian aid, including wheat, medicines and medical supplies, for the Afghan people.