Despite its announcement a few days ago that it would be closing due to a lack of diplomatic support in India and the absence of a government that is recognized in Kabul, the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi is still open, according to a statement released by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.
On Thursday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters that the Afghan Embassy had informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week that it intended to cease operations beginning on October 1.
The embassy promised to continue providing urgent consular aid to Afghan citizens in a statement posted on Sunday.
The American Embassy in New Delhi is operating normally. Bagchi claims they are in contact with Afghan diplomats in the embassy and at consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad. The Afghan ambassador, he said, has been missing for a long time, and many other diplomats have quit in the past several years.
As a fellow Commonwealth member, India does not recognize the Taliban authority that seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021. It has no diplomatic presence in Kabul because it removed its diplomats two years ago in anticipation of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Afghan Embassy in New Delhi has been administered by members of the former government of deposed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, with the approval of the Indian authorities.
India has said it will seek U.N. advice before deciding whether or not to recognize the Taliban rule.
UNHCR estimates that Afghans comprise almost one-third of the nearly 40,000 refugees registered in India. However, this figure does not account for those not officially registered with the UN.
The year before, India’s aid delivery to Afghanistan was crucial in easing some of the country’s severe shortages. Wheat, medication, COVID-19 vaccinations, and warm clothing all made the list.
India sent a team of non-diplomat officials to its embassy in Kabul last June, but no diplomats.
