taliban: MEA team in Afghanistan oversees aid delivery, engages Taliban; Kabul seeks resumption of Indian projects | India News

In a first since India withdrew all its diplomatic staff from Afghanistan following the return of the Taliban in August last year, India Thursday sent a team led by MEA joint secretary J P Singh to Kabul to “oversee’ delivery of India’s humanitarian aid to the country and also engage with senior Taliban leaders on the issue. Among those Singh – who handles the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division of MEA – met was Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
The meeting, described by Muttaqi as a good beginning, focused on diplomatic relations, bilateral trade and humanitarian aid with the Taliban seeking resumption of Indian projects, according to a Taliban spokesperson.
The head of Taliban political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen, told TOI the visit was “needful and sagacious”. While Indian authorities warned against reading too much into the visit, saying it should not be seen as indicative of any decision on official recognition for Taliban, the visit is still significant as it follows an outreach by the Taliban to India that also saw them earlier calling upon the Indian government to consider reopening the Indian embassy in Kabul.
According to a Taliban spokesperson, Muttaqi also stressed on India’s diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and the provision of consular services to Afghans, particularly to Afghan students and patients. He said the 2 sides agreed to further “expand interactions” with India assuring the Taliban it will assist Afghanistan in increasing its exports and recalling India’s decision to open up its ports and borders for the same.
The Taliban again conveyed to India that they want India to reopen its embassy and start functioning as normal saying the government in Kabul is committed to providing diplomats a secure environment. Muttaqi again thanked India for the latter’s decision to send 50000 MT of wheat to a hunger-stricken Afghanistan through the land route with Pakistan. India reiterated Thursday it has historical and civilisational ties with the Afghan people and these longstanding linkages will continue to guide the government’s approach.
When asked if India could consider reopening the embassy, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the visit by the Indian delegation was mainly about the humanitarian aid sent by India but added the government was in touch with the International community on the issue of official recognition for the Taliban. The local staff in Kabul are still looking after the maintenance and upkeep of the embassy and are also involved in delivery of Indian aid.
India does not want to take any decision on haste though as it believes the government in Kabul is yet to fully address security concerns related to the presence of LeT and JeM terror camps in Afghanistan. A UNSC report last week claimed some of these JeM terror camps are directly under Taliban’s control.
Among the places the Indian delegation visited was the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, a high school renovated by India and a power substation built by Powergrid Corporation of India at Chimtala, near Kabul.
Late in the evening, Singh also met Afghanistan deputy foreign minister Sher Abbas Stanekzai who assured India that Afghanistan-Indian relations “would move forward based on mutual respect and joint bilateral legitimate interests, and would not be influenced by other countries’ inter-rivalry”. He said Afghanistan will follow an independent foreign policy. According to Taliban, Singh assured him India will not interfere in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs and that it will help Afghanistan with infrastructure and capacity building projects.
The government said India’s development and humanitarian assistance had received “widespread appreciation” across Afghanistan and that, in this connection, the Indian team will meet the senior members of the Taliban, and hold discussions on India’s humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
“During the visit, the team will meet representatives of the International Organisations involved in distribution of the humanitarian assistance. In addition, the team is expected to visit various places where Indian programmes / projects are being implemented,” said the government in a statement.
It recalled that in response to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, India has already dispatched several shipments of humanitarian assistance consisting of 20,000 MTs of wheat, 13 tons of medicines, 500,000 doses of Covid vaccine and winter clothing.
“These consignments were handed over to the India Gandhi Children Hospital, Kabul and UN specialized agencies including WHO and WFP. Furthermore, India is in the process of shipping more medical assistance and foodgrain to Afghanistan,” it said.
India has also gifted one million doses of India-made COVAXIN to Iran to administer to Afghan refugees in Iran. “We have also assisted UNICEF by supplying almost 60 million doses of polio vaccine and two tons of essential medicines,” said the government.