Afghan Hindus, Sikhs meet Muttaqi in Delhi, honour him in traditional Afghani style
A delegation of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs met Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi at the embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
New Delhi: A delegation of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs met Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi at the embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
The delegation is supported by the Afghan Minority Council and the Indian World Forum.
The members of the minority community honoured the Afghan Foreign Minister by presenting him with a turban and a shawl in traditional Afghan style.
An Afghan businessman, Noorula, who came to meet Muttaqi, said that they came to discuss business and the problems faced by businesspeople.
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Speaking to IANS, Noorula said, “We came here to discuss our business and the problems we face, including road access, visas, and other issues. We also came to talk about the Wagah Border and the Attari Border, which are shut.”
He mentioned that they have been facing several problems due to Pakistan and expressed hope that the issue would be resolved.
“People involved in the fruit and dry fruit business came to meet him. Businessmen face problems due to visa issues. People of Afghanistan have been facing problems due to Pakistan for the past 45-50 years. We hope that the problem is resolved,” he added.
The Afghan Foreign Minister is currently on a seven-day visit to India to further strengthen the historic bilateral relations.
On Sunday, Muttaqi interacted with Indian analysts and experts during an event organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) in New Delhi. The packed gathering, which also included many noted female scholars, was enthralled as Muttaqi spoke on his country’s deep relationship with India.
“The conversation underscored the deep economic, historical, cultural, and civilisational ties between the two countries. His mention of Rabindranath Tagore’s Kabuliwala struck a poignant chord with the audience,” VIF, a New Delhi-based think tank specialising in foreign affairs, national security, and strategy and public policy, posted on X along with several images from the interaction.
On Saturday, Muttaqi visited the historic Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, holding discussions with religious scholars at the Islamic seminary. This was the first visit by a senior Taliban leader to Darul Uloom Deoband since the regime change in Afghanistan.
Darul Uloom Deoband holds significant symbolic and ideological relevance for the Taliban. Many senior Taliban leaders studied at Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an institution modelled after Deoband.
On Friday, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar met his Afghanistan counterpart in New Delhi as both held discussions on India’s support for Afghanistan’s development, bilateral trade, territorial integrity and independence, people-to-people ties and capacity-building, besides several other issues.
EAM Jaishankar noted that Muttaqi’s visit to India marks an “important step” in advancing bilateral ties. He also announced the handing over of five ambulances to Afghanistan.
