India looking into reports Afghanistan may pull embassy from New Delhi

Security personnel stand guard outside the Afghan embassy in New Delhi. AFP

India is examining the veracity of a communication from the Afghanistan embassy that said it will shut the mission in New Delhi permanently, local media reported on Friday.

The Afghan embassy in the Indian capital was run by diplomats appointed by the previous Afghan government, before the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August 2021.

While India’s Ministry of External Affairs has yet to officially comment, media reports said that it was examining the “authenticity of the communication and its contents”.

Ambassador Farid Mamundzay, who was appointed by Ashraf Ghani's government, has been in London for several months and most of the other diplomats in the mission have received asylum in many western countries including the US, Canada and Australia, the reports said.

The international community, including India, has yet to formally recognise the Taliban, despite the fact the group has controlled Afghanistan for more than two years.

New Delhi has also historically shunned the Islamist group.

An unsigned but stamped two-page document that surfaced on social media blamed New Delhi for its lack of support for the decision, saying that bilateral agreements had not been given consideration since the collapse of the Afghan republic.

“It is with deep regret that the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan must inform the esteemed Ministry of External Affairs that due to unprecedented circumstances we are compelled to cease all operations by the end of September,” the note verbale read.

The decision was taken due to the inability to maintain normal functioning due to the “absences of diplomatic consideration and systematic support”.

The move to close down the embassy was being made as the Tmission’s significance was “systematically diminished” since the reopening of the Indian embassy in Kabul last year.

New Delhi had reopened its diplomatic mission after deploying a “technical team” at its embassy in Kabul to monitor humanitarian assistance and continuation of India’s engagement with Afghans in June, a year after it flew its ambassador and 120 diplomatic staff out of Kabul following Taliban’s takeover.

“Despite many requests on issues of key concerns to the status of the missions, education, initiatives, consular services support, humanitarian assistance and business and commerce help to Afghan traders, either no action required were taken or very limited support was provided by the concerned authorities,” the communication read.

The Afghan embassy in the note asked New Delhi for the safekeeping of its assets in the mission and continued hoisting the Afghan tricolour.