India, Afghanistan agree to upgrade diplomatic ties after FM Muttaqi’s visit to New Delhi
India and Afghanistan have agreed to upgrade their diplomatic relations, with New Delhi saying it will open an embassy in Kabul and the Taliban administration sending diplomats to the Indian capital.
New Delhi announced on Friday that it was upgrading its technical mission in Kabul to an embassy level in its first high-level engagement with Afghanistan’s Taliban administration since the group regained power in 2021.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is visiting India, said the Afghan Taliban administration will also send diplomats to New Delhi. It was the first such trip to India by a Taliban leader since 2021.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankarin announced the decision following talks in New Delhi with the visiting Afghan foreign minister.
India's top diplomat said New Delhi is “committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence” of the Afghan nation.
“Closer cooperation between us contributes to your national development, as well as regional stability and resilience,” he said.
“To enhance that, I am pleased to announce today the upgrading of India's Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of Embassy of India,” he added.
For his part, Muttaqi told reporters on Friday, "India will raise its technical mission to a diplomatic mission in Kabul, and our diplomats will also come here."
He added that the aim was for the two countries to slowly return to "normalcy."
The Afghan foreign minister said Kabul views New Delhi as " a close friend."
He said the Indians were the first to respond to recent earthquakes in the country with food and medicines.
He added that their decision to restore diplomatic relations will “open a new chapter” in relations between the two neighbors.
India closed its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban takeover, following the chaotic US military withdrawal from the country after two decades of foreign occupation, leaving the country in tatters.
Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, the Indian embassy building has functioned as a technical mission, facilitating the distribution of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.
About a dozen countries, including China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, have embassies operating in Kabul.
Russia is the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban administration, whose members are under UN sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze.
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