 "‘New Afghan Visa’ module for Taliban-led nation amid post-Pahalgam strategic push")
As India and Afghanistan’s Taliban improve ties, New Delhi has reopened visa services to Afghan nationals. The visas will be mainly issued to people who want to seek medical treatments in India on a case-to-case basis.
Who will get the visas?
A notification posted on the government’s official visa portal announced the launch of the ‘New AFGHAN Visa’ module available for six categories. Sources have told the Economic Times that priority will be given to people with ailments.
The newly updated portal features categories such as student, business, medical, medical attendant, entry, and UN diplomat visas. Applicants must upload a recent front-facing photograph, along with their passport and national ID card, both of which should include personal details like name, date of birth, nationality, and expiry date.
New Delhi-Taliban relationship
Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said he held a “good conversation” with acting Muttaqi during which the two leaders discussed India’s “traditional friendship” with the Taliban-ruled country and the ways to take the bilateral cooperation forward.
Jaishankar also appreciated Muttaqi’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives.
He also welcomed Muttaqi’s “firm rejection” of what he called “recent attempts to create distrust between India and Afghanistan through false and baseless reports.”
“Underlined our traditional friendship with the Afghan people and continued support for their development needs. Discussed ways and means of taking cooperation forward,” Jaishankar said.
Muttaqi strongly rejected Pakistan’s allegations of missile attacks by India on Afghanistan, official sources told PTI. It was an apparent reference to a report in a section of the Pakistani media that claimed India had “hired” the Taliban to carry out a “false flag” operation at Pahalgam.
India has also approved the entry of 160 buses from Afghanistan carrying dry fruits and nuts via the Attari border in Punjab as a “special gesture”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPakistan had initially blocked the Afghan trucks access to pass through the border, following which the country’s authorities allowed some of them to unload at Attari.
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