UN Sanctions Panel Clears Taliban Minister Visit

UN Security Council’s 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee approved a travel exemption allowing Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to travel to New Delhi, a decision reported Sept. 30 and taken by consensus. Reports say Muttaqi will be in India around Oct. 9 — with dates variously given as Oct. 9–10 or as part of an Oct. 9–16 itinerary — marking the first ministerial visit from Kabul to New Delhi since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. The decision follows months of lower‑level and neutral‑venue contacts, including talks in Dubai and a May phone call between Muttaqi and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and comes after an earlier planned ministerial trip was scuttled when a previous UN waiver was denied. India has framed the outreach around continued humanitarian assistance, possible development and political engagement while stopping short of formal recognition and insisting Afghan territory not be used for terrorism and that rights concerns be addressed. Analysts and Indian sources view the visit as strategically significant in regional diplomacy, including as a counterweight to Pakistan and China.