Saturday, 11 October 2025
Saturday, 11 October 2025
Afghanistan’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Saturday expressed optimism about the future of India-Afghanistan relations, saying he was deeply moved by the warm welcome he received during his visit to the Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.
“I have hopes for stronger ties in the future from the way I was received in Delhi. We will be sending new diplomats, and I hope you people will visit Kabul as well. These visits may be frequent in the near future,” Muttaqi told reporters at Deoband, one of South Asia’s most influential Islamic seminaries.
The Afghan leader, who arrived at Deoband by road from Delhi with his delegation, was greeted by Darul Uloom Deoband’s vice-chancellor Abul Qasim Nomani, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind president Maulana Arshad Madani and other officials of the seminary amid floral showers.
Hundreds of students and local residents gathered to see the visiting dignitary, with many attempting to shake hands before being stopped by security personnel.
“I am thankful for such a grand welcome and the affection shown by the people here. I hope that India-Afghanistan ties advance further,” the Afghan foreign minister said.
Extensive security arrangements were put in place for the high-profile visit, with intelligence and local agencies coordinating with officials from the Afghan embassy in Delhi who had arrived a day earlier to review preparations.
Darul Uloom Deoband on Saturday clarified that there were no directives to exclude women journalists from covering the Afghan minister’s visit.
The statement came after reports suggested that female reporters were kept away from Muttaqi’s earlier press conference in Delhi, which sparked criticism from opposition parties.
“There were no restrictions from the Afghan foreign minister’s office about who would attend,” said Darul Uloom PRO and media in-charge of the visit, Ashraf Usmani. He dismissed as “baseless” claims that women journalists were barred.
Usmani explained that a public event at the seminary, initially scheduled for Friday, was cancelled at the last moment due to overcrowding and security concerns.
“Though the programme was called off, the presence of a couple of women journalists for the Afghanistan minister’s event was enough to rebut reports of women journalists being made to keep away,” he said.
He added that during Saturday’s event, women reporters were allowed to cover the programme alongside their male counterparts.
“There was no purdah or curtain at the venue,” Usmani said. “Various things were doing the rounds, from women journalists not being allowed to them being made to sit separately. All of this was baseless.”
He also clarified that when the event was cancelled, the district administration allowed a quick media interaction at the guest house where Muttaqi was having lunch before departing for Delhi.
Maulana Arshad Madani said the absence of women journalists at the earlier Delhi press conference was coincidental. “The Afghan foreign minister had not said no to women coming to the press conference. It was wrong and propaganda,” he said.
Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Zia Ur Rehman, questioned the Uttar Pradesh government’s stance on the Afghan minister’s tour, recalling that an FIR had earlier been filed against his party colleague for remarks deemed supportive of the Taliban.
“When the Government of India itself invites and welcomes Taliban minister Muttaqi to India, no one raises any questions. But when Sambhal MP Dr Shafiqur Rahman Barq made a statement about the Taliban, Yogi Adityanath said he should be ashamed, and the UP police filed an FIR,” Rehman wrote on Facebook.
“Now, the same Taliban minister will visit the Taj Mahal in Agra and Deoband, and the Yogi government will provide him with full security. Why the double standards?” he added.
In August 2021, Shafiqur Rahman Barq, then a Lok Sabha MP from Sambhal, was booked for sedition after remarks comparing the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan to India’s freedom struggle.
He was also charged under sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code.
Barq had defended his comments, saying the Taliban’s actions were Afghanistan’s internal matter and that Afghans wanted to govern their country independently.
His remarks drew sharp criticism from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who said in the state legislative council that supporting the Taliban meant endorsing “barbaric acts” and “a blot on humanity.”
Muttaqi’s ongoing visit, which includes a trip to Agra’s Taj Mahal, continues to generate both diplomatic and political debate in India, marking a rare engagement between New Delhi and the Taliban regime.
Muttaqi, who landed in New Delhi on Thursday on a six-day official trip, is the first senior Taliban minister to visit India since the group returned to power four years ago. India has not yet recognised the Taliban-led government in Kabul.
During his visit, Muttaqi said Kabul would soon send diplomats to India as part of “step-by-step” efforts to strengthen bilateral relations.
He also reiterated that the Taliban would not allow Afghan soil to be used against other countries.
The Afghan minister further urged India and Afghanistan to cooperate in removing hurdles to the development of Iran’s Chabahar port, which has faced restrictions under US sanctions imposed during the Trump administration.
