Controversial Taliban Foreign Minister’s Visit to Delhi Sparks Diplomatic and Cultural Tensions
Emir Khan Mutaqi, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, recently visited New Delhi amid protests and diplomatic-cultural confrontations. During the formal meeting between Mutaqi and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, no flags were displayed by either side. According to the Indian Express, this was a deliberate attempt to avoid addressing the legitimacy issue of either the “Republic” or the “Emirate.”
Tensions were not limited to the official session. Just minutes before the Taliban delegation arrived at the Afghan Embassy in Delhi, an Afghan citizen holding the national flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan appeared in front of the embassy. This individual, a former embassy staff member, declared that no Taliban flag would be allowed to fly until India officially recognized the Taliban administration.
The Indian Express reported that some Afghan residents in Delhi actively prevented the raising of the Taliban flag on embassy grounds. The newspaper described these confrontations as the last symbol of resistance against the Taliban administration on Indian soil.
Another controversial aspect of this visit was the gender-based discrimination seen during Mutaqi’s press conference. Reports stated that female journalists were barred from entering the conference room, and only male reporters were permitted. This sparked sharp criticism from several Indian parliament members. Mahua Moitra, a member of parliament, tweeted her outrage, questioning how the Indian government could allow such discrimination by a representative of a repressive regime on Indian soil.
Following this, Karti P. Chidambaram, another Indian MP, emphasized that while India is compelled to engage with the Taliban geopolitically, it is unjustifiable to succumb to their discriminatory and regressive behaviors.
In images from the press conference, a Taliban delegation member quietly placed the Taliban desktop flag beside Mutaqi, an apparent attempt to symbolically assert the Taliban presence in the absence of official flags.
After the press conference ended, the Taliban delegation encountered the national flag of Afghanistan at the embassy’s main entrance. They chose to exit through a side door to avoid facing it. When a reporter asked whether the embassy belonged to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Taliban, the delegation claimed, “It is ours.”
In another scene from the visit, the backdrop of Mutaqi’s press conference included the Bamiyan Buddha statue — a historic symbol that was devastatingly destroyed during the Taliban’s first rule. Zia Ahmad Takall, the Taliban’s deputy foreign ministry spokesperson, shared photos of the meeting on X (formerly Twitter), but significantly cropped the image to obscure the statue.
The Indian Express also recalled that after the fall of the Afghan republic in August 2021, many former Afghan diplomats left India, but some remain at the embassy. The presence of dissenting voices and their efforts to prevent the Taliban’s symbolic legitimacy reflect an ongoing civil resistance against the group’s recognition.
