India Welcomes Afghan Health Minister For First Official Visit
Mawlawi Noor Jalal Jalali, Afghanistan’s Minister of Public Health, arrived in India on December 16, 2025, marking his first official visit to the country. The visit forms part of ongoing high-level engagement between India and Afghanistan and places a renewed focus on healthcare cooperation and public health support.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the visit reflects India’s continued engagement with Afghanistan in critical sectors, including health. India has historically played a role in supporting Afghanistan’s healthcare system through medical assistance, training programmes, and capacity-building initiatives, and the visit provides an opportunity to further strengthen this engagement.
The Afghan Health Minister’s visit follows recent official visits to India by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi, indicating a pattern of sustained sector-wise dialogue between the two sides. Earlier discussions during these visits covered areas such as economic cooperation, trade facilitation, and bilateral ties.
Health sector cooperation has been a key component of India’s engagement with Afghanistan over the years, including medical treatment for Afghan patients in Indian hospitals, supply of essential medicines, and training of Afghan healthcare professionals. The arrival of the Afghan Health Minister signals continued dialogue on healthcare needs, system strengthening, and public health collaboration.
The visit underscores ongoing interaction between India and Afghanistan at the ministerial level, with healthcare emerging as an important area of engagement amid broader bilateral exchanges.
