India Formally Upgrades Technical Mission In Kabul to Embassy
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: India has formally upgraded its technical mission in Kabul to an embassy, days after external affairs minister S. Jaishankar announced New Delhi's intent to do so during the acting Afghan foreign minister's unprecedented visit here.
“This decision underscores India's resolve to deepen its bilateral engagement with the Afghan side in all spheres of mutual interest,” the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday (October 21) in a statement.
The embassy will build on India's contribution to Afghanistan's “comprehensive development, humanitarian assistance and capacity-building initiatives, in keeping with the priorities and aspirations of Afghan society”, it added.
The move marks a step forward in the Modi government's diplomatic engagement with the Taliban, which it has gradually and cautiously expanded since the outfit stormed to power in 2021, at which time New Delhi had cancelled visas for Afghan citizens and evacuated its mission in Kabul.
Jaishankar had announced India's intent to upgrade its mission's status during his acting opposite number Amir Khan Muttaqi's visit to Delhi – the first by any Taliban minister – on October 10 for which it had acquired a travel waiver from the UN Security Council.
The minister had said the mission's upgraded status would be that of “an embassy”, deliberately stopping short of confirming a full embassy, something that would imply formal recognition of the Taliban government.
Even as a few countries maintain embassies in Kabul, Russia remains the only nation that formally recognises the Taliban regime as Afghanistan's legitimate government.
In Delhi, Muttaqi also said India had agreed to permit the Taliban to appoint its diplomats at the Afghan embassy in New Delhi.
However, it has not agreed to have the Taliban appoint a full-term ambassador to Delhi.
During their meeting on October 10, Jaishankar also said India's longstanding development partnership with Afghanistan “stands renewed”. He proposed discussions on the maintenance and completion of earlier Indian-funded projects as well as identifying new areas of cooperation.
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