ISLAMABAD: The Acting Afghan Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, has called off a planned visit to India, the Hindustan Times reported.
There was no official confirmation of the cancellation of the visit from the Afghanistan side till the publication of this report.
The first highest-ranking outreach between the two governments took place on January 8, 2025, in the UAE when India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had a meeting with Muttaqi.
The planned visit to India was being seen as a follow-up to a phone call between Muttaqi and India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in May.
According to Hindustan Times, when Indian External Affairs Ministry’s spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked at a weekly media briefing about reports of Muttaqi’s planned visit to India, he replied: “We continue to have engagements with Afghan authorities. If there is an update on this account, we will share it with you.”
“Procedural issues”
Earlier, the acting Afghan minister, Muttaqi's visit to Pakistan which was expected on August 4, was also delayed due to "procedural issues". “There are certain procedural issues we are working through,” Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan told reporters at the weekly media briefing when asked about media reports on Muttaqi’s trip.
Khan had said that both the countries are working to address the matter and added, “Once these procedural matters are resolved, we look forward to welcoming the Afghan foreign minister to Pakistan.”
Last week, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, called Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Muttaqi to convey condolences on the tragic loss of lives in the earthquake that struck in Afghanistan on September 1, Business Recorder reported.
He offered prayers for the victims and bereaved families, reaffirmed Pakistan’s solidarity with the Afghan people, and assured readiness to extend all possible support as required by the Afghan side.
The two had earlier, held a bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of the 6th Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan in Kabul, on August 20, 2025.