KARACHI, Pakistan

Interim Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi left Wednesday for the Indian capital of New Delhi for a week-long visit, according to his Foreign Ministry.

It is the first visit by any top Afghan diplomat since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.

Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesman for Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry, wrote on the US social media company, X, that Muttaqi is scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart and several officials to discuss political, economic, trade and expansion issues between Kabul and the region.

Muttaqi has been granted an exemption by the UN Security Council Committee for travel to New Delhi, according to Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, during a news conference Friday in the Indian capital.

The top Afghan diplomat will visit from Oct. 9 to 16.

New Delhi closed its embassy in Kabul after the fall of the West-backed regime in Afghanistan, whose fall led to the return of the Taliban, now ruling the war-torn nation as an interim administration.

But the embassy resumed operations with a “technical team” in 2022, and recently has directly engaged the interim administration.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar held his first direct conversation in a call with Muttaqi in May.

Before the call, India sent its first high-level delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to meet Muttaqi in Dubai in February.

Last year, an Indian delegation visited Afghanistan for high-level meetings with Afghan officials.

Trade between Afghanistan and India climbed to $890 million last year.