In his first-ever conversation with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday underlined India’s traditional friendship with the Afghan people and reiterated India’s continued support for their development needs.
Jaishankar’s call to Muttaqi comes days after Afghanistan’s Taliban regime, which New Delhi is yet to officially recognise, condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were killed by Pakistan-linked terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a post on social media platform X shortly after the call, Jaishankar wrote:
“Good conversation with Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi this evening. Deeply appreciate his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.”
He added that during the discussion, he “underlined our (India’s) traditional friendship with the Afghan people and continuing support for their development needs. Discussed ways and means of taking cooperation forward.”
The conversation comes just days after India and Pakistan agreed to halt military strikes in the wake of Operation Sindoor, which followed the Pahalgam terror attack — an incident condemned by the Kabul regime.
Following the Pahalgam attack, Indian special envoy Anand Prakash, Director General of the Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan Division at the MEA, travelled to Kabul to meet Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Their discussions focused on strengthening bilateral political ties, enhancing trade and transit cooperation, and exchanging views on recent regional developments.
This marks the first political-level contact between the two sides since the Taliban captured power in Kabul in August 2021. In January this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Muttaqi in Dubai.
The last political-level contact before this took place in 1999–2000, when then-External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh was in touch with Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil following the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 to Kandahar in December 1999.