India's Envoy Went To Kabul For Humanitarian & Economic Purposes, Says New Delhi

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India's envoy had travelled to Kabul to discuss the use of Chabahar port to strengthen economic ties and humanitarian aid.

Jaiswal said that the Indian delegation met with Taliban officials and former president Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

Jaiswal also gave details of the Indian delegation's visit to Afghanistan during a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

JP Singh, the head of the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran section of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, travelled to Kabul with a delegation over the past few days and met with Taliban officials.

The Taliban's Ministry of Defence wrote in a statement on Wednesday that Yaqoob Mujahid, the Taliban's defence minister, spoke with JP Singh and discussed the shared desire to expand bilateral relations.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban's foreign minister, also said in a meeting with JP Singh that the group expects its relations with New Delhi to develop.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in a meeting with the Indian delegation, also called for the country's attention to education for Afghans and the development of trade exchanges between India and Afghanistan.

The spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that during the meetings of the Indian delegation in Kabul, the humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and how the Chabahar port can be used by the business community in Afghanistan for exchanges, exports and imports, and any other work they wish to do, were discussed.

Declaring that the provision of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan is an important part of India's aid programmes, Jaiswal said, "We have sent several shipments of wheat to Afghanistan so far.