India upgrades ‘technical mission’ in Kabul to embassy after Muttaqi visit

This comes as part of India’s engagement with the Taliban while stopping short of a formal recognition of the regime that came to power in August 2021

Updated on: Oct 21, 2025, 22:35:56 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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New Delhi: India on Tuesday announced the upgrading of its diplomatic presence in Afghanistan from the status of a technical mission in Kabul to a full-fledged embassy as part of its engagement with the Taliban while stopping short of a formal recognition of the regime that came to power in August 2021.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar during a meeting with his Afghanistan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi, in New Delhi on October 10. (@DrSJaishankar)

The formal announcement from the external affairs ministry came less than a week after Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi concluded his visit to India, the first by a senior member of the group. Following talks with Muttaqi on October 10, external affairs minister S Jaishankar had said India would upgrade its diplomatic role in Kabul.

India withdrew its officials from and shuttered all its missions in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in 2021. India re-established its diplomatic presence in Kabul in June 2022 by deploying a “technical team” headed by a middle-ranking diplomat.

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“In keeping with the decision announced during the recent visit of the Afghan foreign minister to India, the government is restoring the status of the Technical Mission of India in Kabul to that of Embassy of India in Afghanistan with immediate effect,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

“This decision underscores India’s resolve to deepen its bilateral engagement with the Afghan side in all spheres of mutual interest,” it said.

The embassy in Kabul will augment India’s “contribution to Afghanistan’s comprehensive development, humanitarian assistance, and capacity-building initiatives, in keeping with the priorities and aspirations of Afghan society”.

People familiar with the matter said the diplomat heading the embassy in Kabul will have the status of chargé d’affaires and an ambassador is not expected to be appointed, in keeping with the lack of formal recognition of the Taliban regime.

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Muttaqi’s visit during October 9-15 marked a significant step forward in India’s engagement with the Taliban regime. Muttaqi told a group of journalists that Afghanistan will send diplomats to the embassy in New Delhi to take forward relations.

Muttaqi, who was in India amid a dramatic escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, reiterated an assurance that no one will be allowed to use Afghan soil to target other countries.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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