THE embassy of Afghanistan in New Delhi has shut as diplomats appointed by the previous government in Kabul ousted by the Taliban in 2021 failed to secure extensions of the visas from their Indian hosts, the outgoing ambassador said on Friday (24) in a statement.
New Delhi doesn't recognise the Taliban government that stormed back to power two years ago following the retreat of the western forces led by the US, and had allowed ambassador Farid Mamundzay and mission staff to stay, issuing visas and handling trade-related issues.
The Afghan embassy in New Delhi has closed as diplomats appointed by the government in Kabul ousted by the Taliban two years ago failed to secure visa extensions from their Indian hosts, the outgoing ambassador said in a statement on Friday.
However, the arrangement could not be maintained for long as the envoy and senior staff left for Europe and the US to get asylum, and the embassy said it was suspending operations.
A statement from the Afghan embassy posted on X on Friday said that the period in limbo got over and it was closing down and the keys had been handed over to the host nation. It also said that pressure from both the Indian and Taliban government had forced such a decision.
In his statement, Mamundzay said, "Unfortunately, despite an eight-week wait, the objectives of visa extension for diplomats and a shift in the Indian government's conduct were not realised."
"Given the constant pressure from both the Taliban and the Indian government to relinquish control, the embassy faced a difficult choice," the statement added.
The statement also said all Afghan diplomats appointed by the former Ashraf Ghani government have left India to go to some third countries and only those affiliated with the Taliban are there.
The statement did not mention the status of Afghan consulates in other Indian cities, such as Mumbai.
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