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India says Afghanistan embassy in Delhi continues to operate
The Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi continues to operate and New Delhi is in contact with diplomats at the mission as well as in consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad, Indian government said on Thursday.
“Our understanding is that the Afghan embassy in New Delhi is functioning or continuing to function. We are in touch with the Afghan diplomats who are there in that embassy as well as with the Afghan diplomats who are at the consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
“However, we received communication last week purportedly from the embassy, indicating that it intends to suspend operations at the end of September,” he said as reported by the Indian Express.
“Of course, such a decision is an internal matter of a foreign mission. However, we have noted that the Afghan consulates general in Mumbai and in Hyderabad voiced their objection to that decision or to such a decision,” Bagchi told reporters.
The diplomats at the embassy appointed by the previous Afghan government had announced in a statement on September 30 that the mission is ceasing its operations from October 1, alleging “lack of support from the host government”.
The Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad have, however, said that they would continue their operations.
The embassy was headed by Ambassador Farid Mamundzay but he has been out of India for several weeks. He was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government.
“We are also aware that there has been a prolonged absence of the ambassador and that a large number of Afghan diplomats have left India in the recent past,” Bagchi said.
“We would hope that a substantial number of Afghan nationals in India, including students, are able to continue to receive necessary consular support. On our part, we will continue with our efforts to assist the people of Afghanistan,” he said.
Bagchi said the government is in touch with the Afghan diplomats in Delhi as well as in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
“We are not going to discuss what they will do, who will replace whom. That’s not within the remit of the government of India,” he said.
Bagchi also said that the government is extending visas to Afghan nationals who are unable to return to their country.