The Indian government met with the Taliban regime of Afghanistan on Wednesday in Dubai. In the first-of-its-kind high-level bilateral meeting between the two states, the Indian foreign secretary, Vikram Misri engaged with the acting Afghanistan foreign minister, Aamir Khan Muttaqi. As per the statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, the two parties engaged in discussion on various issues regarding bilateral relations as well as regional development.
The meeting was not limited to a meet-and-greet but extended to a range of issues like India’s security concerns in Afghanistan, the need for India to consider engaging in development projects in the near future, Delhi’s humanitarian assistance for rehabilitation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, use of Iran’s Chabahar port and general ties between the two countries.
“(The Indian officials at the meeting ) underlined India’s historic friendship with the Afghan people and the strong people-to-people contracts between the two countries,” said the MEA in a statement regarding the bilateral meeting. The MEA further said that India has conveyed its readiness to respond to the urgent development needs of the Afghan people. The Afghani ministers appreciated and thanked the Indian leadership for continuing to engage and support the people of Afghanistan. So far, India has dispatched various shipments consisting of approximately 50,000 metric tons of wheat, 300 tonnes of medicines and 27 tonnes of earthquake relief eight with 40 thousand litres of pesticide, one hundred million polio doses, 1.5 million doses of Covid vaccine, 11,000 units of hygiene kits for the de-addiction program, 500 units of winter clothing and 1.2 tonnes of stationary kit to Afghanistan.
The two sides also interestingly discussed strengthening sports cooperation, especially cricket, which is highly valued by the young generation of Afghanistan.
