New Delhi: In a significant development, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri met acting Afghan foreign minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on Wednesday (January 8), marking India’s highest-level engagement with Kabul to date and taking place at a time when the Taliban regime’s relations with neighbouring Pakistan are possibly at their lowest.

While India, aligning with the international community, does not formally recognise the Taliban government, its engagement has steadily grown through visits to Kabul, meetings during regional summits and the presence of Taliban-aligned appointees in Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions here.

Until now, discussions had been limited to senior Indian government officials. The last bilateral meeting occurred in November, when Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) joint secretary J.P. Singh visited Kabul to meet both the foreign and defence ministers of the Afghan government.

Therefore, the foreign secretary’s direct interaction with the Taliban foreign minister represents a significant step forward in bilateral interaction.

Misri highlighted the “historic friendship” and “strong people-to-people contacts”........

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