Minutes before Taliban-led Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi walked into the Afghan embassy in Delhi, an angry young Afghan stomped out with a flagpole. “I will not let them hoist the Taliban flag as long as I am around,” he said. “Let the Indian government officially recognise the Taliban government, then they can hoist the Taliban flag,” said the youth, who has worked at the Afghan embassy here for several years. He requested anonymity for fear of retribution back home. Amid the face-off with the visiting Taliban members, the Afghans stationed in Delhi stood their ground, not allowing them to hoist the flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban call it Emirate, instead of Republic). This was the last pocket of resistance against the Taliban, who will now be allowed by the Indian government to send their diplomats to the embassy in Delhi. At the meeting between Muttaqi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Hyderabad House, there were no flags of either side - thus evading a diplomatic challenge. The Indians addressed him as Foreign Minister of Afghanistan - not getting into the Republic vs Emirate debate. Post-August 2021, after the Taliban captured power in Kabul, diplomats aligned with the ousted Ashraf Ghani government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan remained at the country's embassy in Delhi. But, most have left since then, having got asylum in the US, UK, Canada or Australia. However, Sayed Mohammed Ibhrahimkhil, who was the Afghan Consul General in Hyderabad, still remains. An appointee of the ousted Ghani government, he is the charge d’affaires (CDA) at the Afghan embassy in Delhi and still operates under the old flag and the old stationery of the Republic of Afghanistan. Some Afghans, who came to Delhi to study or work, help him to run the embassy. Jaishankar's meeting with Muttaqi on Friday marked a seismic shift, as Delhi engaged with the Taliban, burying past hostilities and the ghost of the IC-814 hijack. At the embassy, as Muttaqi walked in to address mediapersons - all men, as the women journalists were kept out, sparking anger about the discriminatory behaviour - the Taliban delegation sprang a surprise. They took out a small table-top flag of the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan from their bag, and placed it next to the minister. The Afghan staff watched the press conference on their phones, from a room in the embassy. “We knew they would do this, and that is why we had told our CDA that we are ready to organise their press conference at a five-star hotel,” said a staffer. But, some staffers said, the MEA leaned on the CDA to allow the Taliban delegation to hold the press conference at the embassy. “We had tea and snacks, but we didn’t feel like serving them,” said one. The irony of the setting for Muttaqi's 30-minute press conference couldn't have been more visible – the Taliban flag on a table in front of him, and a painting of the Bamiyan Buddhas (destroyed by the Taliban in 2001) on the wall behind. With not a single women journalist allowed in the room, when asked about women's rights being violated in Afghanistan, he said it was all part of a “propaganda”. “It is all propaganda. We have the Shariah there and everybody has rights. Each country has its own traditions and customs,” he said. “Under the Taliban, the situation in Afghanistan has improved for the better. Before August 15, 2021, there were at least 200-400 deaths every day. Today, that has stopped. Have you seen any protests taking place? No, people are happy,” he said. On several occasions, he mentioned the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, making his point about their preferred nomenclature. He spoke about sending diplomats to Delhi, took on the US, criticised Pakistan, and talked about trade through Chabahar and Wagah. “The Foreign Minister (Jaishankar) said you can send diplomats to New Delhi now. When we go back, we will select people and send them,” he said. Asked if the Taliban regime would appoint an ambassador, Muttaqi said: “We will now send diplomats and gradually the contacts will increase.” He said his country would not allow its territory to be used to “threaten or harm others” and denied any presence of terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Afghanistan. “Not even one inch of soil is controlled by anyone other than the Islamic Emirate. These groups and tanzeems are not present in Afghanistan, they have left Afghanistan in these four years. We finished those against whom we conducted operations,” he said. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has proven over the course of the last four years that its territory will not be allowed to be used against others,” Muttaqi said. On US President Donald Trump asking the Taliban to hand over the strategic Bagram airbase to US forces, Muttaqi said Kabul would not accept any foreign military presence in the country. “Afghanistan has a long history of safeguarding its independence and sovereignty and combating occupations. Afghanistan will not allow any military interventions or military presence,” he said. Responding to a question on reports of explosions in Kabul on Thursday night, he alleged Pakistan's role in an attack in the border area. “Afghanistan is an independent country in this region and when peace has come there, why are others troubled? Afghan people too have rights. The peace, benefits and progress of the last four years should be strengthened…Just as we want good relations with India, we want good ties with Pakistan. But these relations can only be built from both sides, it can't be done by one side,” he said. Muttaqi said India and Afghanistan should work together to address hurdles in development of the Chabahar port. “Both Afghanistan and India should try to remove all problems and obstacles in this route, because there are some restrictions on this path from America… Afghanistan and India should jointly talk with America, and also talk among ourselves, and derive maximum benefits from this route. This is the need for both countries, and we understand this need because trade between Afghanistan and India last year was more than US$ 1 billion,” he said. He also called for trade between India and Afghanistan through the India-Pakistan Wagah border. “The Wagah route is the shortest for Afghanistan and trade was conducted through this route in the past. Pakistan and India should not close this route because economic, human and trade issues should not be mixed with political issues…This is the right and the need of the people, this is a route for trade and should not be closed. Wagah is close (to Afghanistan) and it is cheaper to transport goods between Afghanistan and India through this route…It is our request to both countries that this route should be opened for starting and increasing trade,” he said. After the briefing, as Muttaqi, accompanied by other members of the Taliban delegation, were on their way out, they saw the old Afghan Republic’s flag at the main entrance. The delegation then skipped the main entrance, and took a side exit to leave the embassy. The main flagpole outside the embassy building, too, has the old Afghan Republic flag. On his way out, he was asked by a reporter on whether the embassy belonged to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan or the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. “Yeh hamara hai (it is ours),” he responded. For the record, the embassy’s keys and bank account are with the Afghan CDA aligned with the ousted government.
