India-Pakistan Conflict: Why EAM Jaishankar's phone call with Taliban Foreign Minister is historic

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on 15 May said he had a ‘good conversation’ with acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. Jaishankar thanked the Taliban leader for condemning the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack.

“Deeply appreciate his condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack,” Jaishankar posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Welcomed his firm rejection of recent attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan through false and baseless reports.”

The conversation scripts a new chapter in regional dynamics between India and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The call assumes significance as it is India's first ministerial-level outreach to Afghanistan's Taliban administration in many decades.

New Delhi is yet to officially recognise Afghanistan's Taliban regime. Jaishankar's call to Muttaqi comes days after Afghanistan condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed by Pakistan-linked terrorists.

First call since 1999

The call was the first political-level contact and conversation between Indian and Afghan ministers since the Taliban captured power in Kabul in August 2021. In January this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Muttaqi in Dubai, UAE.

The last such contact between India and Taliban took place in 1999-2000 when then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh was in touch with Afghanistan Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil after the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 to Kandahar in December 1999.

“The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi, held a telephone conversation with the Minister of External Affairs of India, Mr Jaishankar,” Taliban Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the call.

Muttaqi underscored the importance of expanding diplomatic and economic relations between Kabul and Delhi, the statement said.

Taliban's director of communication, Hafiz Zia Ahmad, said that during the call, Muttaqi asked Jaishankar to provide more visas to Afghan nationals, especially to those seeking medical attention. He said that bilateral trade, the release and return of Afghan prisoners in Indian jails, and the development of the Chabahar Port in Iran were discussed.

The Taliban government, which seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, has not been formally recognised by any country. Some countries, including China, Iran and Russia have, however, established diplomatic relations and engaged with the Taliban regime, also known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

During the Taliban's previous rule (1996-2001), only three countries, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), formally recognised the Islamic Emirate.