India Afghanistan Relations : Amir Khan Muttaqi, the foreign minister of Afghanistan, has come to India for his first official visit. However, Muttaqi is the first Taliban leader who has been publicly hosted by India.
The meeting between Amir Khan Muttaqi and S Jaishankar marks the highest level engagement of India with Taliban in the last 25 years.
The visit has been underscored by nuanced diplomatic engagements as well as underlying tensions which are mentioned below.
1. TRADE AND REGIONAL RELATIONS
Muttaqi emphasized on enhancing trade via Chabahar Port and Wagah Border, and urged collaboration between India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has also highlighted trade volume with India, which has exceeded to $ 1 billion.
2. FLAG DISPUTE AND RECOGNITION
During the meeting, a confrontation arose when Afghan embassy personnel resisted the hosting of the Taliban flag, and advocated for official Indian recognition of the Taliban government.
Moreover, the absence of national flags during the meeting tends to mark the delicated nature of the Republic and EMIRATE debate.
3. TALIBAN’S POLITICAL STANCE
During the meeting, Muttaqi mentioned that as compared to pre-2021 era, the situation of Afghanistan has improved by the Taliban government by reducing violence. He laid emphasis on the sovereignity of the “ISLAMIC EMIRATE OF AFGHANISTAN”.
4. EXIT AND EMBASSY AUTHORITY
The Taliban delegation avoided the main entrance on departure which displayed the old Afghan Republic Flag, indicating unresolved authority issues over the embassy.
During the first press confrence which was held on 10 October 2025 (Friday), the absence of women journalists by the Afghan leader has caused a major controversy. This led opposition parties to criticise the current government for allowing it, and press bodies issuing statements of concern.
However, the Taliban foreign minister claimed that the omission of women journalists from his first press conference was “unintentional”. Besides, the Ministry of External Affairs said that it had not played any role in organising that interaction.
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After being excluded from the press conference fronted by the foreign minister of Taliban for two days, women journalists finally took a powerful seat of force on last sunday (12 October 2025) to question him regarding the social exclusion of Afghan women.
When Muttaqi was asked about the denial of right to education to girls and women in Afghanistan, he mentioned that education is not “haram” for girls and women, but it has only been postponed until the next order of the country’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
In the past, videos have also been shared on social media which showed that women students were chased by the officials of Taliban government outside the gates of a prominent university as they demanded entry.
Moreover, they were restricted from protesting for their rights to education, and women who protest against these restrictions face arbitrary detention, abuse and torture. In short, the conditions of women in Afghanistan have deteriorated drastically.
Now the question which arises is – “IS IT SAFE TO BE A WOMAN IN AFGHANISTAN?”
In nutshell, although India and Afghanistan have taken a step ahead to build strong diplomatic relations, but it cannot be ignored that the conditions of Afghan women under Taliban’s rule is starkly divergent.
