Afghan Commerce Minister Azizi On India Visit, Focus On Advancing Trade Ties

Weeks after Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's visit, the country's Industry and Commerce Minister Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi is in India with a focus on advancing bilateral trade and investment ties.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, on Wednesday, shared a post on X on Azizi's visit to the country.

'A warm welcome to Afghan Industry and Commerce Minister, Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi, on his official visit to India. Advancing bilateral trade and investment ties is the key focus of the visit,' he wrote.

Earlier, Muttaqi had paid a six-day visit to India in October. In an interaction with a small group of journalists, after holding wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, the Afghan foreign minister had invited Indian businesses to invest in his country's mining, minerals and energy sectors.

The first senior Taliban minister to have visited India after the group seized power four years back, Muttaqi had also asserted that the Taliban will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against other countries.

India had on October 21 announced upgrading its technical mission in Kabul to the status of an embassy as part of broader efforts to deepen its bilateral engagement with Kabul.

The MEA in a statement had said the decision underscored India's resolve to deepen its bilateral engagement with the Afghan side in 'all spheres of mutual interest'.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar during his meeting with Afghan counterpart Muttaqi in Delhi last month had said that India will upgrade its diplomatic presence in Kabul.

India had withdrawn its officials from its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. In June 2022, India re-established its diplomatic presence in the Afghan capital by deploying a 'technical team'.

On October 10, the Afghan foreign minister had said that Kabul will soon send its diplomats to India as part of 'step-by-step' efforts to improve bilateral relations.

Muttaqi's visit to India had assumed greater significance as it came at a time when both India and Afghanistan were having frosty relations with Pakistan over a range of issues, including cross-border terrorism.