MOSCOW, Oct 3 – Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will travel to Moscow next week to attend talks on reconciliation and regional cooperation, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that Muttaqi will also meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the gathering.
“The seventh meeting of the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan will be held in Moscow on October 7, bringing together special representatives and senior officials from Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan,” Zakharova said.
The Moscow Format has served as a key regional platform for dialogue since the Taliban takeover in 2021, bringing together Afghanistan’s neighbors and other regional players to discuss stability and counterterrorism.
Possible India Visit
Muttaqi has also been cleared by the United Nations for a proposed visit to India, though New Delhi has yet to approve the request. If permitted, it would mark the first-ever visit by a Taliban government representative to India since the group assumed power three years ago.
The potential visit is being closely watched, as India has historically been wary of engaging directly with the Taliban, though it has provided humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in recent years.