Afghanistan Embassy in India Shuts Down

GS Paper II International Relations

Context:

Halt in functioning: The embassy had stopped functioning on September 30 when the senior Afghan diplomats and the ambassador representing the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan left India.
- The embassy blamed both the Taliban rulers in Kabul as well as the Government of India for pressuring it to stop operations in India permanently.
Reason for Closure: The closure is attributed to a lack of resources and the Taliban regime’s failure to meet Afghanistan’s interests.
Concerns: The permanent closure of the embassy of Afghanistan will create a challenging situation for traders and travelers who want to apply for Afghan visas.
Decline in the Afghan community: There has been a significant decline in the Afghan community in India over the past two years which has been attributed to the departure of refugees, students, and traders.

The embassy represented the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan until it was overthrown by the Taliban through a military campaign on August 15, 2021.
- The Taliban fighters quickly took over all the major cities and infrastructure of the country with the withdrawal of the U.S. forces. However, they were not recognised by India as de facto rulers.
A stateless Mission: With the displacement of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi had begun to work as a “stateless mission” as it did not represent the current rulers of Kabul, that is the Taliban, with whom India has no diplomatic relationship.
Symbolic role: The embassy was performing a ceremonial role helping out Afghan citizens and travellers in India deal with the difficulties they have been facing due to the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Diplomatic engagement: India has not recognised the Taliban formally but Indian diplomats have been engaged with the Taliban since the the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
- Indian diplomats have met the Taliban’s representatives in multiple locations under multilateral initiatives like the recent Moscow format dialogue.
- Recently, India sent a representative to Kazan, Tatarstan in Russia to engage with the Taliban under the Moscow format dialogue.
No economic support: The Taliban has been urging India to support it with its economic revitalization through projects like electricity generation and road-building works.
- India, however, has not yet indicated that it will review its position on the Taliban.
- India has never allowed the Taliban to operate from the embassy of Afghanistan in Delhi even when it governed Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.