AT
Kabul: JP Singh, the joint secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs for the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division, on Thursday met with Taliban foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, and expressed India’s interest in expanding relations and trade with Kabul.
The meeting focused on in-depth discussions on bilateral Afghanistan-India relations, economic and transit matters, fighting ISKP & corruption in the country, Afghanistan’s ministry of foreign affairs’ spokesperson, Abdul Qahar Balkhi posted on X.
India has supplied close to 50,000 tonnes of wheat, medicines, Covid-19 vaccines and other relief materials to Afghanistan in recent months. However, the Indian side has not resumed work on development and infrastructure projects it had launched before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
New Delhi had withdrawn its officials from the embassy after the Taliban captured power. In June 2022, however, India deployed a technical team in its embassy in Kabul, re-establishing its diplomatic presence in Afghanistan.
The outlay for foreign countries in India’s budget for 2024-25 included an allocation of ₹200 crore for Afghanistan.