India will continue to look at ways to work with the Taliban, including hosting its UN sanctioned leader Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi, officials said.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, was due to make his first trip to India in August but failed to secure a waiver on his existing travel ban by the United Nations Security Council.

He was sanctioned by the UNSC in 2001 over the acts and activities of the Taliban in Afghanistan during the hardline Islamist group’s previous rule in the 1990s.

On being asked about Muttaqi’s planned visit to India, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Singh Jaiswal told reporters that India continues to engage with Afghan authorities.

“As you are aware, we have longstanding ties with the people of Afghanistan. India continues to support the aspirations and developmental needs of the Afghan people. We continue to have engagements with Afghan authorities,” he said last week.

According to officials in New Delhi, a waiver for Muttaqi was sought from the UNSC but it was not given clearance, in a move reportedly blocked by Pakistan.

The 1988 sanctions committee – a subsidiary body of the Security Council to oversee the implementation of sanctions – is currently led by Pakistan. It is overseeing the travel bans imposed on the Taliban leaders along with assets freeze and an arms embargo.

The Indian side will continue to look into ways to host the acting foreign minister and the visit is expected to proceed in the coming months after the waiver on the travel ban is addressed in the interest of regional cooperation, sources told The Independent.

If the waiver is granted, the visit from Muttaqi will bump India into a brief list of nations that have hosted the sanctioned Taliban leader – joining the ranks of China and Russia who have engaged with the fundamentalist group despite censure.

The India visit, seen as problematic over the Taliban’s policies banning almost half of its population of girls and women from schools, colleges, and workplaces on top of curtailing their basic human rights, will grant legitimacy to the group’s senior leader.

India has gradually ramped up its cautious yet increasingly diplomatic approach in engaging with the Taliban by meeting with the group’s senior officials in Qatar and also in Kabul.

In January this year India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri met with Muttaqi and discussed diplomatic relations, security concerns, and humanitarian aid with Afghanistan at its highest-level talks till then in Dubai.

The two sides discussed expanding bilateral ties, with an increased focus on India’s security concerns, boost in trade through the Chabahar Port in Iran, and Indian investments in several development projects inside Afghanistan, which remain a key concern for Delhi.

In May this year, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar held a telephonic conversation with Muttaqi where the Afghan leader condemned the terrorist attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

The exchange marked the highest level of contact between New Delhi and Kabul after the exit of Nato forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, even though India has not granted any official recognition to the Taliban.

The two spoke again last week in the aftermath of deadly 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan, which killed at least 2,200 people even as authorities warned that the actual death toll could be higher as more bodies in remote areas were recovered.

A viral video by travel vlogger Ujjwal Singh exposed the filth inside the Dibrugarh–Kanyakumari Vivek Express. Covering 4,000 km in 74–75 hours across nine states, the train faces numerous cleanliness complaints, with passengers calling it India’s dirtiest.

 

Nepal witnessed a fresh wave of youth-led protests on Tuesday as Gen Z demonstrators took to the streets for a second consecutive day, demanding accountability, anti-corruption measures, and the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. The unrest, which erupted after a controversial government decision and a social media blackout, turned violent with protesters storming homes of political leaders and torching the private residence of Communication Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung in Sunakothi, Lalitpur.

Despite the government lifting the social media ban on Monday evening, protests continued unabated. The unrest, largely driven by college and school students, has been marked by clashes with police, who resorted to firing at multiple locations to disperse the crowds.

Police and local authorities also used water cannons, tear gas, and imposed curfews in parts of Kathmandu, including Kalanki and Baneshwor, as well as in Lalitpur’s Chapagaun-Thecho area. Demonstrators blocked roads by burning tyres and shouted slogans such as “KP Chor, Desh Chhod” and “Take action against corrupt leaders,” voicing frustration over corruption, dwindling economic opportunities, and the recent online blackout.

The Nepal government updated the casualty figures, reporting 18 deaths and 250 injuries during Monday’s protests. In response to the escalating situation, PM Oli called the demonstrations an “unpleasant situation” and blamed the unrest on “ambiguity between the thinking” of the younger generation.

Expressing condolences, he assured that a committee would probe the incident and submit a report within 15 days to recommend measures to prevent similar occurrences.

The protests have also triggered regional security measures. The India-Nepal border has been placed on alert, with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) closely monitoring developments to prevent spillover of violence into Indian territory. Officials clarified that the alert is preventive and the situation remains under control.

The protests follow a government order that blocked 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and Reddit, citing non-compliance with local registration requirements. The restrictions, combined with entrenched corruption and governance grievances, have fueled widespread anger among Nepal’s youth, prompting them to demand urgent reforms and accountability from the administration.

As the demonstrations continue, curfews remain in place in several districts, and authorities are bracing for further unrest while coordinating relief and law enforcement efforts to restore order.