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Afghan FM Muttaqi begins first India visit

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Afghan FM Muttaqi begins first India visit


Afghanistan´s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi attends the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan, in Moscow on October 7, 2025. — AFP
Afghanistan´s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi attends the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan, in Moscow on October 7, 2025. — AFP
  • New Delhi deepens engagement with Taliban government.
  • Muttaqi set to hold talks with Indian counterpart Jaishankar.
  • “India not in hurry to provide diplomatic recognition to Taliban”.

Afghanistan’s UN-sanctioned foreign minister arrived in India on Thursday, the first visit by a top Taliban leader since they returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.

Amir Khan Muttaqi’s trip — made possible after the UN Security Council granted him a travel waiver — is expected to be closely watched by Pakistan, a neighbour to both India and Afghanistan and arch-rival for the former, as New Delhi deepens its engagement with the Taliban government.

“We look forward to engaging discussions with him on bilateral relations and regional issues,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement, offering Muttaqi a “warm welcome”.

Muttaqi, who met with India’s top career diplomat Vikram Misri in January in Dubai, is set to hold talks with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Neither side has disclosed the agenda, but analysts say trade and security are likely to be at the forefront — though India is unlikely, for now, to extend formal recognition to the Taliban government.

“New Delhi is eager to establish its influence in Kabul… and not be left behind by its arch-rivals, China and Pakistan,” International Crisis Group analyst Praveen Donthi told AFP.

Muttaqi’s visit follows meetings in Russia — the only country so far to have officially recognised the Taliban administration.

But while the Taliban are “seeking diplomatic recognition and legitimacy”, Donthi said, others noted that was some way off.

“India is not in a hurry to provide diplomatic recognition to the Taliban,” Rakesh Sood, India’s former ambassador to Kabul, told AFP.

India has long hosted tens of thousands of Afghans, many who fled the country after the Taliban returned to power.

Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi shut in 2023, although consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad still operate limited services.

India says its mission in Kabul is limited to coordinating humanitarian aid.

‘Drive a wedge’

The Taliban’s own interpretation of Islamic law may appear an unlikely match for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, but India has sought to seize the opening.

Diplomatic dynamics in South Asia are driven by long-running distrust between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi seeking to exploit divisions between Islamabad and Kabul.

“Kabul will be walking the tightrope between Islamabad and New Delhi, with the latter trying to get the most from the engagement without offering formal recognition,” Donthi added.

Pakistani analyst Wahed Faqiri called Muttaqi’s visit a “remarkable development”, coming as “tension between the Taliban and Pakistan is high”.

Islamabad accuses neighbouring Afghanistan of failing to expel militants using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, an accusation that authorities in Kabul deny.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan fought a brief but deadly clash in May, their worst confrontation in decades.

“The visit would certainly make Pakistan angrier and more suspicious,” Faqiri said.

“Moreover, it would strengthen India’s position in Afghanistan and India would try to drive a wedge between Taliban and Pakistan.”





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Trump purchases $100 million worth of Netflix, Warner Bros bonds

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Trump purchases 0 million worth of Netflix, Warner Bros bonds



US President Donald Trump purchased about $100 million in municipal and corporate bonds from mid-November to late December, his latest disclosures showed, including up to $2 million in Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery bonds just weeks after the companies announced their merger.

Financial disclosures posted on Thursday and Friday showed the majority of Trump’s purchases were municipal bonds from cities, local school districts, utilities and hospitals.

But he also bought bonds from companies including Boeing, Occidental Petroleum and General Motors.

The investments were the latest reported assets added to Trump’s expanding portfolio while he is in office.

It includes holdings in sectors that benefit from his policies, raising questions about conflicts of interest.

For example, Trump said in December that he would have a say in whether Netflix can proceed with its proposed $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, which faces a rival bid from Paramount Skydance.

Any deal to acquire Warner Bros will need regulatory approval.

A White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday that Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is independently managed by third-party financial institutions and neither Trump nor any member of his family has any ability to direct, influence or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested.

Like many wealthy individuals, Trump regularly buys bonds as part of his investment portfolio.

He previously disclosed at least $82 million in bond purchases from late August to early October.



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Trump says Pakistani PM’s ‘saving 10 million lives’ remark is an honour

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Trump says Pakistani PM’s ‘saving 10 million lives’ remark is an honour



US President Donald Trump has reiterated his claim of having stopped a war between Pakistan and India, while also saying that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked him for saving at least 10 million lives.

He made the remarks at the renaming of Southern Boulevard to Donald J Trump Boulevard in Washington on Friday.

“In a year, we made eight peace deals and ended the conflict in Gaza. We have peace in the Middle East…We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting, two nuclear nations…The Pakistani Prime Minister said Donald Trump saved at least 10 million people, and it was amazing,” he said.

The US president further recalled that the Pakistani prime minister’s remarks were an honour for him.

Trump cited his administration’s foreign policy record and repeated assertions of brokering peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Trump has made similar claims multiple times since May 10 last year, arguing that US pressure helped defuse tensions between India and Pakistan.



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Saudi King Salman leaves hospital after medical tests

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Saudi King Salman leaves hospital after medical tests


Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired a virtual cabinet meeting from his office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 28, 2024. — Reuters
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired a virtual cabinet meeting from his office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 28, 2024. — Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s 90-year-old King Salman was discharged from hospital after undergoing medical tests in the capital Riyadh, the kingdom’s Royal Court said on Friday, adding that the results were “reassuring”.

The monarch “left the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh today (Friday) after undergoing medical tests that proved reassuring”, the royal court said in a statement shared on state media, having announced his admission earlier in the day.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude oil exporter, has for years sought to quell speculation over King Salman’s health.

He has been on the throne since 2015, though his son Mohammed bin Salman was named crown prince in 2017 and acts as de facto ruler.

The monarch’s well-being is rarely discussed, but he has been admitted for surgery and tests on multiple occasions in recent years.

In 2024, the Royal Court said he suffered from lung infections, which he recovered from.

He was hospitalised in May 2022, when he went in for a colonoscopy and stayed for just over a week for other tests and “some time to rest”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported at the time.

He was also admitted to hospital in March 2022 to undergo what state media described as “successful medical tests” and to change the battery of his pacemaker.

In 2020, he underwent surgery to remove his gall bladder.





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