The story so far: The Indian government framed the visit by Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi , and the warm welcome it extended to the Taliban leader, as an outreach to the “people of Afghanistan”. The visit coincided with violent clashes on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border .

How has India grown links with the Taliban?

After years of being seen as “too slow” to engage with the Taliban, the government has gone to considerable lengths in recent months to build ties with the group that controls Afghanistan. In January this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri made the first such contact, meeting Mr. Muttaqi in Dubai, and discussed increasing trade between both countries. On May 16, just days after the India-Pakistan conflict ended in a ceasefire, External Affa

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