Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has arrived in India for a week-long official visit, marking the highest-level engagement between New Delhi and the Taliban since the group seized power in 2021.
The visit, once thought impossible, highlights a major shift in regional diplomacy and a pragmatic turn in India’s Afghan policy.
Muttaqi, who received a temporary exemption from UN sanctions to travel, flew into Delhi from Russia, the only nation to have formally recognised the Taliban government.
He is expected to hold discussions with India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and other senior officials during his eight-day stay. Talks will centre on strengthening political, trade and economic relations between the two countries.
India’s foreign ministry confirmed the meeting, saying, “We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues.”
A Taliban spokesperson told the BBC that Muttaqi would meet Indian leaders “to discuss various political, economic, and trade [issues], and improving of ties of Afghanistan and the region.”
The visit marks a stunning reversal of roles in South Asia’s geopolitics.
For years, India backed the former Western-supported Afghan government that was ousted by the Taliban, while Pakistan maintained close ties with the group. But the relationship between Islamabad and Kabul has since soured, allowing Delhi to re-enter the Afghan political arena.
Analysts say this shift underscores the Taliban’s growing desire to reduce their dependence on Pakistan. “The deterioration in ties with Pakistan also allows them [Taliban] to hedge their bets and show how it is no longer dependent on Islamabad for its survival,” wrote Harsh V Pant and Shivam Shekhawat of the Observer Research Foundation.
They added that engagement with India also helps the Taliban “create a perception of legitimacy for their domestic constituents.”
Brahma Chellaney, a strategic affairs expert, described the visit as “a cautious reset in India-Taliban relations,” adding that it marks “a setback for Pakistan” and hints at a potential reconfiguration of power dynamics in the region.
India has yet to officially recognise the Taliban government but maintains informal relations and a small diplomatic presence in Kabul. It continues to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which remains among the world’s poorest nations.
The visit also reflects how quickly Delhi’s position has evolved since August 2021, when the Taliban took control of Kabul.
At the time, India closed its embassy and consulates, halted visa processing, and cancelled thousands of existing visas, citing security concerns. But within a year, India reopened its mission by deploying a “technical team” to coordinate aid distribution.
In recent years, India has quietly rebuilt trust with the Taliban through backchannel diplomacy. New Delhi has issued visas to senior Taliban officials and their families, allowed the group to appoint an envoy in Delhi, and permitted the opening of consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
High-level engagements abroad, including a meeting between Muttaqi and India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai earlier this year, have further deepened ties.
For India, maintaining relations with the Taliban is a matter of strategic interest. Delhi seeks to ensure Afghan soil is not used by extremist groups targeting India and to safeguard regional stability. The Taliban, for their part, have assured India that Afghan territory will not be used for such activities.
Beyond security, India aims to use its ties with Kabul to strengthen regional connectivity with Iran and Central Asia — a move seen as a counterbalance to China and Pakistan’s influence.
Still, both sides remain cautious. Decades of mistrust and conflicting political ideologies continue to shadow their engagement. Yet, Muttaqi’s visit underscores a growing recognition that cooperation, however limited, is now a strategic necessity.