Amid a crunch of resources and infighting, the Afghan embassy in New Delhi is shutting down its operations in India two-year post-Taliban takeover.
The Afghan embassy in New Delhi has purportedly issued a communication on this issue, sources in the Indian government said. The government is currently verifying the communication and its contents.
The ambassador and other senior diplomats have left the country for Europe and the United States where they gained asylum.
According to a report in Reuters, at least five Afghan diplomats have left India and the Indian government will now take over the diplomatic compound in a caretaker capacity.
The move to shut down the embassy comes months after the power struggle between the current Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and Taliban-appointed ambassador Qadir Shah.
Power Struggle
Ambassador Farid Mamundzay, who was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government, has been operating as the Afghan envoy even after the Taliban came to power in August 2021.
However, in April this year, Qadir Shah claimed himself to be appointed by the Taliban to head the mission. Shah has been working as a trade councillor at the Afghan embassy since 2020.
In the first 10 months of taking power, Taliban only sent ambassadors to four countries- Russia, Pakistan, China and Turkmenistan.
When Mamundzay was on a visit abroad, Shah tried to take charge of the embassy as the charge d’affaires in May, but his attempt was stalled by other diplomats at the mission.
However, the Afghan embassy said there is no change in its leadership and rejected claims of Qadir Shah replacing incumbent Mamundzay.
According to a PTI report, the Taliban, on multiple occasions, communicated to New Delhi that the diplomats in the Afghan embassy in India do not represent Kabul any longer and made around 14 attempts to remove the ambassador from the embassy in the last two years.
Farid Mamundzay’s Absence
Farid Mamundzay, who has been heading the embassy in New Delhi, has been named in corruption allegations and stay in London.
Sources in the Afghan embassy claim the ambassador was involved in “corrupt practices”, with regard to consignments of wheat that were sent from India as aid to Afghanistan via Pakistan last year.
There were reports that Mamundzay has been missing since more than two months ever since he left for Saudi Arabia. However, responding to the reports, he said, “I continue my job as the Afghan Ambassador to India. I am presently away from India for personal and family reasons and will be returning to the Embassy in New Delhi in the near future.”
Resource Crunch
Afghan embassies around the world remain in limbo as the Taliban government is yet to be formally recognised by any nation. The Taliban continues to face international isolation as countries have refused to recognise the regime over its unlawful takeover of the country.
Some diplomats of the former government have continued to run missions abroad in coordination with the Taliban’s foreign ministry. As per report in March this year, the Taliban has 14 Afghan diplomatic missions under their control. The Afghan embassies continue to face revenue crunch amid financial and economic woes.
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