Afghanistan: Taliban welcomes India's decision to re-deploy Indian staff at Kabul embassy

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, Taliban spokesperson, in tweets said: “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan welcomes India's decision to once again send a delegation of diplomats and a working team to its embassy in Kabul and wishes to continue its engagement and humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people."

“The arrival of Indian diplomats in Afghanistan and the reactivation of the embassy shows that a safe environment has been created in Afghanistan and all political and diplomatic rights are respected," he said.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan assures all existing embassies that the security of their embassies will be taken care of in accordance with international diplomatic principles," he said.

“The Islamic Emirate also calls on other countries to visit their diplomatic missions in Afghanistan and open their embassies," he said.

The statement came as India on Thursday announced the deployment of an “Indian technical team” at its embassy in Kabul as part of “continuation” of New Delhi’s “engagement with the Afghan people”.

The deployment of Indian staff at the Kabul Embassy comes close on the heels of the visit of a high-level team from the Ministry of External Affairs led by JP Singh, Joint Secretary in the Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, division, who held a meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

In a press statement, the Indian foreign ministry said: “India has a historical and civilizational relationship with the Afghan people."

“In order to closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and in continuation of our engagement with the Afghan people, an Indian technical team has reached Kabul today and has been deployed in our Embassy there," read the statement.

“Recently, another Indian team had visited Kabul to oversee the delivery operations of our humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and met with senior members of the Taliban. During the visit, an assessment of the security situation was also carried out," the statement said.

“Our longstanding links with Afghan society and our development partnership including humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, will continue to guide our approach going forward," read the statement further.