A team of Indian officials met with the group's acting secretary of state thursday in Afghanistan to discuss bilateral relations and humanitarian assistance, the Taliban said, the first such visit to Kabul since last year's chaotic U.S. withdrawal.
Poverty and hunger have increased in Afghanistan since the group came to power last year after the withdrawal of U.S. troops, and India is sending grain and other aid to the country.
Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Taliban government, met with a delegation from the Indian Foreign Ministry headed by senior official J.P. Singh.
"The mehi said Muttaqi described the visit as "a good start to relations between the two countries".
Asked whether New Delhi now officially recognizes the Taliban government, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bajchi told reporters that they were "overinterpreting the visit."
eting focused on diplomatic relations and trade between India and Afghanistan, as well as humanitarian assistance," Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Taliban government's foreign ministry, said on Twitter.
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The ministry said earlier that officials would oversee the delivery of humanitarian assistance and visit areas targeted by Indian programs and projects.
India has donated about 20,000 tons of wheat, 13 tons of medicines, 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines and winter clothing, as well as more medicines and cereals that are still on the way, the ministry said.
India withdrew its officials from Afghanistan last August and closed its embassy there, but is keen to restore its relationship with the country where its arch-enemy Pakistan has considerable influence.Bagchi declined to set a possible date for the reopening of the Indian Embassy, but said that local staff were continuing to work and ensure that maintenance and care were carried out at headquarters.