Noor Ahmad Noor Meets India’s MEA Pointsperson in First High-Level Engagement

Noor Ahmad Noor, the first Taliban-appointed chargé d’affaires at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi since the group seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, met India’s external affairs ministry pointsperson for the region on Monday, marking a significant moment in India–Afghanistan engagement.

Noor, who arrived in India over the weekend to take up his posting, held talks with Anand Prakash, Joint Secretary heading the Ministry of External Affairs’ Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division. The meeting was announced through a post by the Afghan Embassy on social media, though there was no official statement from the Indian government.

According to the embassy, the discussions focused on bilateral political and economic relations, expansion of trade, facilitation of visa processes, and challenges faced by Afghan traders, students, and Afghan nationals living in India. Both sides underlined the importance of strengthening Afghanistan–India relations and expanding cooperation and engagement across multiple sectors.

Noor Ahmad Noor is the first Taliban-appointed official to be posted in the Indian capital since the fall of the previous Afghan government. He previously served as Director General of the First Political Department at Afghanistan’s foreign ministry in Kabul. Noor was also part of the delegation led by Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi during his visit to India in October last year.

That visit by Muttaqi—the first by a senior Taliban leader to India—paved the way for New Delhi’s decision to allow the Taliban to post its diplomats in India, despite the fact that India does not formally recognise the Taliban regime. The move was seen as part of India’s pragmatic approach to safeguarding its strategic and humanitarian interests in Afghanistan.

Two other Taliban-appointed diplomats—Ikramuddin Kamil and Habibur Rahman Aftab—are currently heading Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad, respectively.

Following Muttaqi’s visit, India also decided to restore the status of its “technical mission” in Kabul to that of a full-fledged Indian embassy. The external affairs ministry had said the move reflected India’s resolve to deepen bilateral engagement with the Afghan side in areas of mutual interest.

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While New Delhi continues to withhold formal recognition of the Taliban government, it has steadily expanded engagement to maintain trade links, address humanitarian concerns, and ensure continued people-to-people ties with Afghanistan.