'Will Safeguard Indian Embassy': What Afghan Foreign Minister Muttaqi Exclusively Promised News18 In 2022

India on Friday upgraded ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban administration by announcing it would reopen its embassy in Kabul that was shut after the Taliban seized power in 2021. The Taliban government’s

foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, told News18 in a global exclusive interview in 2022 that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would pay special attention to the safety and security of the Indian embassy and consulates. Muttaqi is currently on a six-day visit to India, aiming to boost ties with New Delhi. His trip was made possible after the UN Security Council Committee temporarily lifted a travel ban on him to allow diplomatic engagements abroad.

The Taliban government seeks to re-engage diplomatically with India, long one of Afghanistan’s principal development partners before the regime change in 2021.

“I believe that the relations between Afghanistan and India will be strengthened in the near future. Their embassy would function in our country and our embassy would function in their country,” Muttaqi told News18 in the 2022 interview. “India and Afghanistan are nearby countries in the region and we should have economic, political and diplomatic relations with each other which would be beneficial to both.”

India is a very big country, full of opportunities, he had said. “We had announced to the whole world to make investment and open embassies and consulates in Afghanistan, especially India. It had several projects in Afghanistan earlier,” Muttaqi told News18. “India had economic projects. These projects should be resumed and those that were left incomplete should be completed and more efforts should be put in for the development of these projects.”

India has now announced the upgrading of its technical mission in Kabul to a full-fledged embassy during the meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Muttaqi. Security concerns were central to the discussion.

However, in the 2022 interview itself, Muttaqi promised News18, “We have strengthened our security. Likewise, we will safeguard the security of the Indian Embassy and ensure its safety, and will pay special attention in this regard.”

There is no doubt, he said, that India is a big country having a strong economy. “It has progressed in many fields. Many Muslims are residing in India. Afghans are also doing business in India and frequently visit the country,” Muttaqi told News18, the first Indian media organisation to interview him. “We want to have cordial relations with the whole world and especially with India in the fields of economy and political affairs. We don’t want to hurt anyone from the Afghanistan soil…India has sent wheat and other items for which we want to thank India. We want to send the message of our new government that we don’t want enmity with anyone. We have a positive approach towards India and want that air route should be opened so that our citizens can visit India to get medical treatment. Similarly, our businessmen and workers can visit. The properties of Hindus and Sikhs, which were captured by locals, have now been handed over to them by our new government.”