Indian delegation met Taliban in Doha, says Qatari official

First official confirmation that New Delhi has engaged the group directly after years of refusal

Indian officials made a “quiet visit” to Doha in order to speak to the Taliban’s political leadership based there, said a senior Qatari official, in what appears to be the first official confirmation of recent reports that New Delhi has engaged the Taliban directly. “I understand that there has been a quiet visit by Indian officials to speak to the Taliban,” said Qatar’s Special Envoy of the State of Qatar for Counterterrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani, speaking at a web conference on Monday. The statement came just days after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stopped over in Doha to meet with the Qatari leadership twice in the last two weeks. The MEA declined to comment on Mr. Qahtani’s statement, and did not respond to questions about what level, if any, contacts with the political leadership of the Taliban based in Doha would have been at.