Amir Khan Muttaqi, Foreign Minister of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, is visiting India for seven days to discuss bilateral and regional issues. As part of his visit, he will tour the historic Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Muttaqi will arrive at the Islamic seminary by road at 10:30 am and spend about five hours there. This marks the first visit by a senior Taliban leader to Deoband since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.
During his visit, he will meet leading Islamic scholars, including Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani, head of Darul Uloom, and Maulana Arshad Madani, President of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. He will also tour the campus and hold discussions with faculty and leaders.
Darul Uloom Deoband has symbolic importance for the Taliban. Many senior commanders studied at Pakistan’s Darul Uloom Haqqania, modeled after Deoband. The founder, Maulana Abdul Haq, studied and taught in Deoband, and his son Sami-ul-Haq earned the title “Father of the Taliban.”
Muttaqi will visit the Taj Mahal in Agra on October 12 and meet Indian business leaders in New Delhi the next day. His visit was delayed earlier due to a UN Security Council travel exemption, which was recently granted. This visit follows ongoing diplomatic engagement between New Delhi and the Taliban.
