Saturday, March 29, 2025
India Reopens Embassy in Kabul, Upgrades Technical Mission After Taliban Minister’s Visit
In a significant diplomatic move, India has officially reopened its embassy in Kabul and upgraded its existing technical mission to full embassy status, marking a major step toward normalizing ties with the Taliban-led Afghan government. The decision follows last week’s visit to India by Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who was on a week-long official trip to New Delhi.
According to an official statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday night, “In accordance with the decision taken during the visit of the Afghan Foreign Minister to India last week, the Government of India is restoring the status of the Indian Technical Mission in Kabul to that of an Embassy with immediate effect.”
The statement further added that the move “reflects India’s commitment to strengthening its bilateral relations with Afghanistan in all areas of mutual interest.”
As part of the new arrangement, India will appoint a Chargé d’Affaires to head the mission before officially designating a full ambassador. Meanwhile, the Taliban government is expected to send two diplomats to New Delhi by November.
During his meeting with Muttaqi last week, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had announced that India would soon upgrade its technical mission to an embassy. He also reaffirmed India’s commitment to Afghanistan’s “inclusive development, humanitarian assistance, and capacity-building initiatives” aligned with the aspirations of the Afghan people.
India had closed its Kabul embassy in August 2021 following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. However, after receiving security assurances from Kabul, India reopened a technical mission in June 2022 to oversee humanitarian aid and developmental projects. That mission has now been formally upgraded to a full embassy.
The Taliban sees this move as the start of a “new phase” in bilateral relations with India. Both sides have reiterated their commitment to respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while jointly condemning terrorism “emanating from regional countries” — a veiled reference to Pakistan.
This development has reportedly caused unease in Islamabad, particularly after the Taliban expressed support for India’s sovereignty over Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has lodged a formal protest with the Taliban government in Kabul over the matter.
