The embassy of Afghanistan in India’s capital New Delhi will cease operations from Oct. 1, due to a lack of support from India and a reduction in personnel and resources, the embassy said in a statement on social media platform X.

The embassy also said a failure to meet expectations in serving Afghanistan’s interests is another key factor in shutting of the embassy.

“Given these circumstances, it is with deep regret that we have taken the difficult decision to close all operations of the mission with the exception of emergency consular services to Afghan citizens till the transfer of the custodial authority of the mission to the host country,” the embassy said in the statement dated Sept. 30.

In its announcement, the Afghan Embassy also cited challenges like shortage of both personnel and resources available. “The lack of timely and sufficient support from visa renewal for diplomats to other critical areas of cooperation led to an understandable frustration among our team and impeded our ability to carry out routine duties effectively,” the statement read.

The embassy also refuted any “baseless claims” regarding internal strife or discord among its diplomatic staff or any diplomats using the crisis to seek asylum in a third country.

India does not recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) as government, and closed its own embassy in Kabul after the IEA took control in 2021, but New Delhi had allowed the ambassador and mission staff appointed by the Western-backed government of ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to issue visas and handle trade matters.

Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with the special representatives to Afghanistan from China and Pakistan, Yue Xiaoyong and Asif Durrani respectively, on the sidelines of the Moscow format meeting.

The Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal said on X that during the meeting, national relations, common interests, and threats to Afghanistan, Pakistan and China were discussed in detail.

Muttaqi told Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan that if problems arise, instead of media statements, efforts should be made to solve them through diplomatic means.

Takal added that during the meeting the Chinese side pledged that it is ready to increase its assistance to Afghanistan in a number of areas.

The Afghanistan Food and Drug Authority’s (AFDA) acting head Abdulbari Omar visited the IranPharma international exhibition this weekend while on a trip to Tehran.

IranPharma, the annual international exhibition on pharmaceuticals and related industries, is the biggest pharmaceutical event in the MENA region.

Organized by the Iranian Pharmaceutical Industries Syndicate, in collaboration with Iran’s Ministry of Health, and other associations, each edition aims to expand contributions and innovative collaborations in the pharmaceutical sector, and elevate the opportunities of investing in pharmaceutical technologies.

AFDA said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Omar met with the heads of Iranian pharmaceutical companies along with representatives from other countries and informed them of the new regulations in place regarding the registration of pharmaceuticals, health products, and food that’s imported into Afghanistan.

He also explained that the regulations have been implemented in order to regulate the quality of goods sold on the local market.

According to AFDA, foreign representatives of manufacturing companies expressed their satisfaction with the implementation of the new procedure and expressed interest in registering their products for the Afghanistan market.