Monitoring Desk: After establishing a strategic partnership, India reopened the “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” category for Afghans this week in Dubai so both countries can successfully operate regular flights between Kabul and New Delhi.
According to available information, the decision was made in a meeting with Secretary of External Affairs of India Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi. Afghan students, businessmen, and patients would be given preference, and by August 2025, Afghans would be offered a tourism visa for the entire country of India.
Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs of India are of the view that medical and student visas were restricted after the Taliban takeover in 2021 and a few visas had been released since then. It has issued very few visas to Afghans since then. “It is high time New Delhi came around to do this”, commented an official with the condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk with the media. The official was of the view that it would bring relief to Afghans for attaining higher education and medical care.
He stated that India has opened visas for Afghan nationals with the introduction of the “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa”. This visa is for Afghan nationals who want to travel to India.
Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesperson for the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry confirmed that the visa issue was on the top of the agenda in the meeting between Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri when they met in Dubai (last) Wednesday.
Sources claim that since Indian intelligence networking is officially operational in Kabul vetting of documents of applicants would be done by them in Kabul before releasing visas.
“There would be less threat from those who would travel to India because their background check would be executed by a specialized cell of Indian intelligence agencies working in the Kabul Embassy”, commented the official.
Only those Afghan nationals who had the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) for e-Emergency X-Misc visa issued by the Bureau of Immigration. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs and would allow to board India-bound flights.
The relief of visa is linked with proposed regular flight operations between Kabul and Delhi because regular flights need passenger load and that is not possible without a soft visa regime, believed Indian officials. Even in a bad patch of Indo-Afghan relations after the Taliban took over Kabul, a special relief was granted to students who wanted to pursue and continue higher education in India but were stuck and stranded at home. “There would be an expansion in such arrangements”, commented the official.
Afghanistan in the last three years was not on the top diplomatic agenda of India but New Delhi had been working slowly but surely for a breakthrough that could be possible this week when the US brokered a deal between Kabul and New Delhi. Washington Institute, a US think tank that analyzed international engagement with the Taliban indicates that countries including Qatar, China, and Turkiye are leading the way in developing relations with the Taliban, with Pakistan at number five in terms of influence and India is not even there on the list.
