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Noor Ahmad Noor, first Taliban-appointed diplomat meets MEA pointsperson
Noor Ahmad Noor, the first Taliban-appointed official in Delhi after it took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, arrived in the country over the weekend
NEW DELHI: The Taliban’s new chargé d’affaires at the Afghan embassy in New Delhi met the external affairs ministry’s pointperson for the region on Monday to discuss political and economic relations and the expansion of trade.
Noor Ahmad Noor, the first Taliban-appointed official posted in the Indian capital since the group took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, arrived in the country over the weekend. His meeting with Anand Prakash, the joint secretary heading the external affairs ministry’s Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division, was announced on social media by the Afghan embassy.
Noor and Prakash held detailed discussions on “bilateral political and economic relations, the expansion of trade, facilitation of visa processes and issues faced by Afghan traders, students, and Afghan nationals residing in India”, the embassy said in a social media post.
“Both sides emphasised the importance of strengthening Afghanistan-India relations and expanding bilateral cooperation and engagement,” the post said.
There was no official word on the meeting from the Indian side.
Noor earlier served as director general of the first political department at the foreign ministry in Kabul and was part of the delegation that accompanied Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on his visit to India last October. It was during Muttaqi’s visit - the first by a senior Taliban functionary to India - that New Delhi agreed to allow the group to post its diplomats in the Indian capital.
Two others posted to India - Ikramuddin Kamil and Habibur Rahman Aftab - currently head the Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad respectively.
Following Muttaqi’s visit, the Indian government decided last October to restore the status of the “technical mission” in Kabul to that of the Indian embassy. “This decision underscores India’s resolve to deepen its bilateral engagement with the Afghan side in all spheres of mutual interest,” the external affairs ministry said at the time.
Like most other countries, India doesn’t recognise the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. However, it has deepened its engagement with the Taliban to secure India’s interests in Afghanistan.
