First Person | Lovefest with the Taliban

Many reasons to build ties with Afghanistan, but most of all, for peace

Ghazala Wahab

Two weeks after Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi led a delegation on a five-day visit to India, the government announced elevation of its technical mission in Kabul into a full-fledged embassy. In New Delhi, Muttaqi met his counterpart, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar on October 10, and thereafter, the two issued a joint statement, in which India recognised Afghanistan’s sovereignty and committed to enhance its humanitarian assistance to the country, especially in healthcare.

Muttaqi assured India that Afghan territory would not be used for any activities against India. He also invited Indian investments in its mining sector. Interestingly, while Muttaqi referred to trilateral economic cooperation between Afghanistan, Iran and India through Chahbahar port of Iran, he also mentioned that the shortest land route between the two nations was through Pakistan, thereby suggesting that if ties improved between the two countries it would benefit all three nations.

Incidentally, two days before arriving in New Delhi on October 9, Muttaqi spent a day in Russia—his third visit since the Taliban takeover in August 2021—to attend the Moscow Format dialogue on Afghanistan. Quite like his senior colleague and deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, Muttaqi has been trotting across Asia in pursuance of global recognition for his government. Both Baradar and Muttaqi have been portraying the image of the Taliban government different from its first term. It recognises that for long-term peace, economic development is critical. And investments will come with strings attached.

Both Baradar and Muttaqi are aware that all their efforts at inviting investments are stymied by the Taliban treatment of women, which theoretically remain consistent with their earlier term. Women are not allowed to travel long distances, 70km and more, without a male escort (blood relative or husband), no education for girls upon reaching puberty and full-face covering veil for those stepping out of their homes. The only employment avenue open to them is in female healthcare. The only difference between the two Taliban terms is in the severity of implementation, according to the 2025 report by United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Consequently, punishments like public flogging, though part of the law, are not carried out as harshly as to cause death.

Given this, Muttaqi’s interaction with Indian women journalists was important from th