On Wednesday, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri met with the Taliban's acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, for the very first time in Dubai, conveying its "sensitivities to India's security concerns". During the discussions, the Indian side vowed to offer assistance to Afghanistan in the health sector and refugee rehabilitation as part of its ongoing engagement with the Taliban administration in Kabul, which is not formally acknowledged by New Delhi. 

The discussion centred around humanitarian help, regional security and Afghanistan's future under the Taliban. India, a long-time partner in Afghanistan's development, has offered significant help since the Taliban took authority, including food, medicine, and other essentials. The meeting was viewed as an effort to solve immediate issues while protecting India's strategic interests.

India's liaison with the Taliban leadership has been primarily administered by JP Singh, the single point person of the foreign ministry for Afghanistan. At the same time, this was the first ever formally recognised discussion involving the foreign secretary and prominent senior Taliban leader. Singh had first encountered the Taliban's acting defence minister, Mohammad Yaqoob, in November last year. Yaqoob, the son of Taliban founder and late supreme commander Mullah Omar, has previously avoided public interaction with Indian interlocutors.

"The Afghan side underlined its sensitivities to India's security concerns," the external affairs ministry stated in a meeting summary, without providing any details. According to those acquainted with the subject, India remains concerned about the ongoing presence in Afghanistan of a significant number of militants from Pakistan-based terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

According to the sources, the Indian side has already asked the Taliban not to make use of Afghan territory  for anti-India activities. 

According to the readout, India would "provide further material support in the first instance to the health sector and for the rehabilitation of refugees" in response to an Afghan side demand. India's offer to assist with the rehabilitation of Afghan refugees occurred in the aftermath of Pakistan's deportation of over 500,000 Afghan refugees.

Both parties discussed current Indian humanitarian aid programs, and Muttaqi commended the Indian leadership for "continuing to engage and support the people of Afghanistan". Given the need for initiatives to promote development, it was determined that India would "consider engaging in development projects in the near future" in addition to its continuing humanitarian assistance programs, according to the readout.

Both sides addressed bilateral ties and regional developments and promised to encourage the making use of Iran's Chabahar port to help trade and commercial activity, including humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

An Indian state company maintains a terminal at Chabahar port, becoming an important trading and transhipment hub. India and Iran signed a 10-year deal just last year for Indian operations at the port, which India frequently used in recent years to avoid Pakistan to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

The two countries also discussed improving sports collaboration, particularly in cricket.

After the Taliban took control of Kabul in mid-2021, India's work on several development projects in Afghanistan, which were sponsored through grants and soft loans, came to an end. India likewise removed all its ambassadors from Afghanistan at that point but rebuilt its presence in Kabul by assigning a "technical team" to the embassy in 2022.

India has sent several shipments of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, including 50,000 tonnes of wheat, 300 tonnes of medicines, 27 tonnes of earthquake relief aid, 40,000 litres of pesticides, 100 million polio doses, 1.5 million doses of Covid vaccines, 11,000 units of hygiene kits for a drug de-addiction program, 500 units of winter clothing and 1.2 tonnes of stationery kits.

India condemned Pakistan's recent air attacks in Afghanistan, which killed scores of people, and claimed Islamabad has frequently attempted to blame neighbouring nations for its "own internal failures". Pakistani air attacks on December 24 were alleged to have killed at least 46 people, including women and children.

The discussion in Dubai highlights India's sensible approach to maintaining engagement with significant stakeholders in Afghanistan while using international forums to advocate for inclusion, stability and human rights in the war-torn country.