India will reopen its embassy in Kabul that was shut four years ago, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Friday.
India closed its embassy in Kabul after the Islamic Emirate seized power following the withdrawal of US-led Nato forces in 2021, but opened a small mission a year later to facilitate trade, medical support, and humanitarian aid.
About a dozen countries including China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Turkiye have embassies operating in Kabul.
New Delhi’s announcement came as Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi began talks with Jaishankar on what is the first visit to India by an Taliban leader since 2021.
“India is fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Afghanistan,” Jaishankar told Muttaqi in his opening remarks.
“Closer cooperation between us contributes to your national development, as well as regional stability and resilience,” he said, adding that India’s “technical mission” in Kabul was being upgraded to an embassy.
According to Hindustan Times, Jaishankar also said that closer cooperation between the two countries would contribute to “regional stability and resilience“.
Meanwhile, Muttaqi was quoted as saying that India was the first country to respond to “the recent earthquake in Afghanistan”.
“Afghanistan looks at India as a close friend. Afghanistan wants relations based on mutual respect, trade and people-to-people relations,” the Afghan minister was quoted as saying.
India’s Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, said during a meeting with Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi that New Delhi has allocated 20 ambulances for Afghanistan, five of which will be handed over today.
According to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Jaishankar made these remarks during a joint session with Muttaqi.
He added that, in addition to these ambulances, India is committed to providing further medical assistance to Afghanistan.
“The donation of 20 ambulances is another symbol of goodwill, and I would like to personally hand over five of them to you (Maulvi Muttaqi) as a symbolic gesture,” Jaishankar stated.
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