Ajit Karn
The Afghan embassy in the Indian capital has become the site of a dispute between diplomats of the former republic and the current administration in Kabul, with the Taliban appointing as chargé d’affaires a person believed to be close to Haqqani Network leaders.
People familiar with the situation have described the matter as a “internal affair” of Afghanistan in which New Delhi has no involvement. There has been no official statement from the Indian side regarding the differences that became public over the weekend. As with the rest of the world, India does not officially recognize the Taliban government that took office in August 2021.
Since the overthrow of the Ashraf Ghani administration in 2021, the Afghan embassy has been lead by a dwindling group of diplomats under the direction of Farid Mamundzay, who was appointed ambassador in September 2020. Despite the Taliban’s 14 attempts over the past two years to remove the ambassador and other officials, the situation reportedly came to a climax in April, when Mamundzay was visiting his family abroad.
Trade counsellor Qadir Shah, who was also appointed by the previous administration and sent to New Delhi in March 2020, was named “chargé d’affaires” on April 25 by Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Mamundzay was instructed to return to Kabul.
People say that on April 28 a note verbale or unsigned diplomatic correspondence was sent to the external affairs ministry regarding Shah’s appointment. Until recently, Shah was clean-shaven and wore suits, but he has since grown a goatee and abandoned Western attire. The Indian party has made no official statement regarding this correspondence.
The other Afghan diplomats refused to recognize Shah as their leader on April 29, and expelled him from the mission. People say that since Mamundzay’s return to New Delhi on May 1, Shah has been denied entry to the mission on three separate occasions.
Shah is from Afghanistan’s Khost province, a Haqqani Network stronghold. His father is considered close to former Haqqani Network commander Mali Khan, who is the maternal uncle of senior Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani. Khan is the current deputy chief of staff of the Taliban armed forces, and Angar has reportedly advocated for his son’s appointment to a high position in New Delhi, according to the sources.
Mamundzay declined to comment on the developments, and a statement issued by the Afghan embassy on Monday denied “claims from an individual to have taken charge of the mission at the Taliban’s request.” The statement added that this person was “responsible for spreading false information and running a baseless and unsubstantiated campaign against mission officials, including completely fabricated allegations of corruption based on an unsigned letter.”
This was an apparent reference to reports in Afghan media citing an anonymous letter from “Afghan refugees” that accused Mamundzay and other diplomats of corruption.
In addition, the Afghan embassy’s statement informed Afghan nationals that the “mission continues to operate normally and represent their interests in India.” It also commended the Indian government’s consistent stance of supporting the Afghan people’s interests and “not recognising the Taliban regime in Kabul, as has been the case with democratic countries.”
People stated that the incident illustrates the complexities of India’s relationship with the Taliban. India deployed a “technical team” to Kabul in June 2022 to reestablish a presence there, despite not recognizing the Afghan government’s current structure. Officials from India have also traveled to Kabul to confer with senior Taliban figures such as Muttaqi and Sirajuddin Haqqani.
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The Taliban have been able to appoint officials of their choosing to missions in Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran, and Uzbekistan. Currently, approximately 30 Afghan embassies are managed by diplomats appointed by the former regime.
