Afghanistan is looking to renew and normalise ties with India and is open to investments for the country’s development, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Friday in the wake of the first contact between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Taliban acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
The phone call between Jaishankar and Muttaqi, the highest level of contact between the Indian government and the Taliban since they took over Afghanistan in August 2021, raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles as it came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.
Muttaqi’s move to call Jaishankar ahead of his scheduled visits to Iran and China next week is also significant, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The phone call built on a meeting between Muttaqi and foreign secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai in January, and a visit to Kabul by the Indian diplomat overseeing relations with Afghanistan days after the Pahalgam terror attack.
When Shaheen, who is also the Taliban’s envoy to Qatar, was asked about the significance of the contact between Jaishankar and Muttaqi, he told HT: “Afghanistan has had historical relations with India, there is a need to renew that and normalise relations. We have a balanced approach policy, and our arms are open for all countries to invest in Afghanistan and cooperate with us in various fields.”
Shaheen added, “We are building everything from scratch and we need such relations.”
The call for investments from the Taliban side is significant as the two sides are exploring ways to enhance bilateral trade from the current level of about $1 billion.
Also Read: After Pahalgam, reset in India-Afghanistan ties
During Thursday’s phone call, Jaishankar welcomed Muttaqi’s “firm rejection of recent attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan through false and baseless reports”. This was an apparent reference to reports in a section of the Pakistani media that claimed India “hired” the Taliban to carry out a “false flag” operation at Pahalgam.
The phone call came at a time when the Taliban’s acting deputy interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim Sadr is currently in India. The people cited above, however, said Sadr’s visit was not part of any official engagements as he had arrived in New Delhi on May 3 for medical treatment.
The people also said the Taliban side reiterated its strong condemnation of the Pahalgam attack and rejected alleged reports floated by Pakistani military officials of missile attacks by India on Afghanistan. The Taliban foreign ministry condemned the terror attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir in a statement on April 23, saying such incidents undermine regional security and stability.
Despite India’s decision to close the only operational land border with Pakistan at Attari as part of punitive measures unveiled in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, Indian authorities granted clearance for the entry of 160 Afghan trucks carrying dry fruits and nuts as a special gesture, the people said. However, the people added that the Pakistani has held up the clearance of these trucks on its side of the border crossing, which was the only transit and trade point available to Afghan traders for commerce with India.
Based on the outcomes of the meeting between foreign secretary Misri and Muttaqi in Dubai in January, the Indian side is considering certain development projects for the Afghan people, the people said. “We are also considering humanitarian assistance for the Afghan refugees expelled by Pakistan,” one of the people said.
Since 2021, India has sent 50,000 tonnes of wheat, 350 tonnes of medicines, 40,000 litres of Malathion pesticide and 28 tonnes of earthquake relief materials to Afghanistan. It has also provided 2,000 online scholarships for Afghan students.