New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) In a significant diplomatic development, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Foreign Minister of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, is in India for a seven-day visit aimed at engaging on bilateral and regional matters. As part of his itinerary, Muttaqi will visit the historic Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

He is scheduled to arrive at the Islamic seminary by road at 10:30 a.m. and will spend nearly five hours at the institution. This will be the first visit by a senior Taliban leader to Darul Uloom Deoband since the regime change in Afghanistan.

During his time at the seminary, Muttaqi is expected to meet with prominent Islamic scholars, including Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, the head of Darul Uloom, and Maulana Arshad Madani, President of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. He will also tour the campus and engage in discussions with its faculty and leadership.

Darul Uloom Deoband holds significant symbolic and ideological relevance for the Taliban. Many senior Taliban commanders studied at Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an institution modeled after the Deoband.

The founder of Haqqania, Maulana Abdul Haq, had studied and taught in Deoband before the Partition. His son, Sami-ul-Haq, later earned the title ‘Father of the Taliban’ for his seminary’s role in shaping the movement.

On October 12, Muttaqi will travel to Agra to visit the iconic Taj Mahal, followed by meetings with Indian business and industry leaders at an event hosted by a leading chamber of commerce in New Delhi the next day.

Muttaqi’s visit, initially scheduled weeks earlier, had been delayed due to the lack of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) travel ban exemption. However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed last week that the UNSC Committee has now granted the exemption, allowing the visit to proceed.

This visit follows recent backchannel and semi-formal diplomatic engagements between New Delhi and the Taliban. Earlier this year, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met with Muttaqi in Kabul.

Last month, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Medicine and Food, Hamdullah Zahid, also visited India for an international healthcare exhibition.

–IANS

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