A gathering of diplomatic envoys called by the Taliban in Kabul on Monday included ten regional nations, including India.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban, spoke at the Regional Cooperation Initiative summit, which was also attended by officials from Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Indonesia. Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, was in attendance.
Days after the Indian embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) invited the acting Afghan envoy, Badruddin Haqqani, to the Republic Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi, there was no formal word from Indian officials regarding the meeting.
The Indian delegate at the meeting, according to Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesman for the Taliban foreign ministry, stated that New Delhi supports any efforts aimed at ensuring Afghanistan’s security. “India actively takes part in international and regional initiatives regarding Afghanistan, and supports every effort leading to the stability and the development of Afghanistan,” Ahmad quoted the statement of Indian representative on X.
According to a statement from the foreign ministry of the Taliban, Muttaqi sees regional contacts as important and stressed the need for these countries “to hold regional dialogues to increase and continue the positive interaction with Afghanistan.”
In order to “tackle existing and potential threats” in the region, he also told the meeting that regional cooperation could concentrate on investigating engagement pathways based on shared regional benefits, developing a regional narrative for “positive and constructive engagement” with the Taliban government, and pursuing “soft and hard connectivity” for regional economic development.
Muttaqi went on to say that calls for respecting “one another’s choices of indigenous and traditional development models and governance methods” and the lifting of “unilateral sanctions” against Afghanistan should result from regional cooperation.
“Therefore, our choices shall be respected. Instead of proposing governance models and pointing fingers at the system, it is better to engage on mutual interests,” Muttaqi added.
Muttaqi was cited during the meeting as saying that Afghanistan is a “sovereign, free and safe country” with a government that “stands ready and has the capacity to conduct talks on common and concerning issues” with regional and international entities. He went on to say that Afghanistan desires constructive interaction rather than conflict with any nation.
Following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, India—the largest regional donor to Afghanistan with pledges totaling $3 billion—withdrew all of its ambassadors and officials from the nation.
