Overview

• Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited New Delhi on a U.N.-approved travel exemption despite remaining under sanctions.
• India treated him as Afghanistan’s foreign minister, allowed press conferences at the Afghan embassy in Delhi, and had S. Jaishankar share a stage with him.
• New Delhi says it plans to reopen its embassy in Kabul, indicating a tangible upgrade in ties with the Taliban government.
• All crossings on the Pakistan–Afghanistan border were shut following recent deadly clashes along the Durand Line during Muttaqi’s India visit.
• The outreach has drawn domestic criticism in India over human rights concerns, highlighted by an initial press event that excluded female journalists.