India reaffirmed its “longstanding ties” with Afghanistan and the Afghan people, a day before the fifth anniversary of the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in Kabul.

At a bi-weekly media briefing on Friday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi had maintained regular engagement with Afghanistan over the past year, including several ministerial visits.

“In the last few months and over a year now, we have had several engagements and several ministerial visits from Afghanistan to India and these have led to strengthening of partnerships in several areas including in development cooperation, trade, connectivity”.

“We have longstanding ties with Afghanistan and the Afghan people, and we look forward to strengthening these ties,” he added.

Jaiswal was responding to a question about reported plans by the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi to hold an event marking the IEA’s return to power in August 2021.

India’s foreign ministry did not confirm whether any representative would be present.

Several senior officials from the Islamic Emirate have visited India over the past year, including Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Industry and Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi, Public Health Minister Noor Jalal Jalali and Agriculture Minister Ataullah Omari.

Five years after U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan and the Islamic Emirate returned to power, IEA’s foreign minister has called on Washington to reopen its embassy in Kabul and invest in the country, including its mineral resources and infrastructure.

Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in an interview with The New York Times that Afghanistan now wants relations with the United States based on “mutual respect” and a new period of engagement.

“We consider the chapter of war to have come to an end,” Muttaqi said, adding that the United States could reopen its embassy, maintain a diplomatic presence and invest in Afghanistan’s mines, dams and roads.

The appeal comes as the IEA seeks to reduce Afghanistan’s international isolation and expand diplomatic and economic ties. In recent years, it has strengthened relations with Russia, Uzbekistan and other regional countries and held talks with European governments over the return of Afghan migrants.

Muttaqi rejected any possibility of a renewed U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, saying Afghans would not accept foreign troops on their soil.

Michael Kugelman of the Atlantic Council said Afghanistan’s mineral wealth could be an attractive issue for the Trump administration, particularly because of its focus on economic interests.

The United States spent nearly $1 billion between 2004 and 2021 trying to develop Afghanistan’s mining sector, but a U.S. government watchdog later concluded that the effort had produced little tangible progress.

The IEA has since signed mining and investment agreements with companies from countries including China, Iran and Qatar.

Former U.S. diplomat Robin Raphel said renewed American engagement could potentially give Washington greater access to Afghanistan’s mineral resources and strengthen ties with Central Asia.

“But that requires hands-on engagement through a U.S. presence in Kabul, which remains a hard sell in Washington,” Raphel said.

As Afghanistan marks the fifth anniversary of the Islamic Emirate’s return to power, Richard Lindsay, the UK’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said on Friday the country cannot reach its full potential without the participation of women and girls in education, employment and public life.

Lindsay said in a post on X that the resilience of Afghan women and girls over the past five years has been “incredible,” but said their resilience should not be a substitute for their fundamental rights.

Lindsay stressed that the UK remains committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan.