Overview

• The UN Security Council’s 1988 Sanctions Committee approved a temporary travel-ban exemption on 30 September for Amir Khan Muttaqi to visit New Delhi from October 9 to 16.
• If completed, this will be the first high-level visit by a Taliban minister to India since the group seized power in August 2021.
• Indian officials are preparing meetings expected to include External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with discussions centered on development partnership, humanitarian relief and counterterrorism concerns.
• Muttaqi is slated to attend the Moscow Format consultations in Russia around October 6 before traveling to India under the UN waiver.
• An earlier plan for a September visit fell through when consensus on a waiver was lacking, even as India has sustained a technical mission in Kabul and delivered substantial humanitarian aid since 2021.