NEW DELHI: India continues to have engagement with the Afghan authorities, ministry of external affairs said on FridayResponding to a media query on India’s position regarding recognition of the Taliban government in Kabul, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have long-standing ties with people of Afghanistan. We continue to support the aspiration and development needs of the Afghan people. We continue to have engagement with Afghan authorities.”India sent 21 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to earthquake-hit Afghanistan on Tuesday after a powerful Sunday night quake killed over 2,200 Afghan citizens.

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Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, India has not formally recognised the current dispensation in Afghanistan but has maintained contact through its technical team stationed at the Indian Embassy in Kabul. India has also provided humanitarian assistance, including food grains and medicines, to the Afghan population.In a further indication of India’s growing engagement with the Taliban, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had held a meeting with Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai in January this year.The January meeting between Misri and Muttaqi was the highest-level contact so far between Delhi and the Taliban since the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021.