India relaunches visa services for Afghan nationals

Amid warming up of ties with Taliban, India has relaunched visa services for Afghan nationals. Visas will be issued primarily for people with ailments on a case-to-case basis. A notification on the government's official visa portal, indianvisaonline.gov.in, launched the 'New AFGHAN Visa' module for six categories of visa. However, highly-placed sources told ET that preference would be given to health visas on a case-to-case basis.

The newly updated portal lists categories including student, business, medical, medical attendant, entry and UN diplomat visas. Applicants are required to upload a recent front-facing photograph along with the passport and national ID card that must contain personal details such as name, date of birth, nationality and expiry date.

The move follows growing diplomatic engagement between India and the Taliban regime. Last month, external affairs minister S Jaishankar spoke on phone with Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, thanking him for condemning a "terrorist attack" in Kashmir. Taliban is keen to utilise both the INSTC as well as Chabahar Port for global trade and thereby reduce dependence on Pakistani ports. India-Afghanistan-Iran had earlier agreed to a trilateral pact for the Chabahar Port.