Afghanistan envoy to India Farid Mamundzay said the nation’s embassy in India will be closed down citing lack of cooperation from Taliban-led Afghan government and Indian government, people familiar with the developments told CNN-News18.
Mamundzay wrote a letter to the Taliban-led Afghan government that he failed to deliver on every front because he was deprived of support and diplomatic considerations. He claimed that when he made several requests to the Indian government asking for visa considerations for traders and other areas, the government did not help.
Mamundzay, however, blamed the Afghanistan government led by Taliban for India’s response to his requests and said that lack of inclusivity in the Taliban-led government and lack of credibility of those in power in Afghanistan played a role.
Mamundzay also pointed to low medical and student visa approvals.
Government officials familiar with the developments said the decision to close the embassy is of the Afghan side. “We have done our best to help and facilitate (their) mission here. This is their own decision. We sincerely want them to function,” the officials familiar with the developments told CNN-News18.
They point out that Mamundzay was missing for a long time. “Their cooperation with the Taliban-led government is also under serious question mark,” the aforementioned people highlighted.
People familiar with the developments told CNN-News18 that visas of staff members of the Afghan embassy were not extended by the government after May 2023 and the staff are now in need of exit permits.
“Due to non-cooperation from India and no assistance from Kabul I have decided to shut down the mission by the end of September 2023,” Mamundzay said, while speaking to the people mentioned above.
Mamundzay Creating ‘Rift’ Between New Delhi and Kabul
Sources revealed that the Government of India is upset with the Afghanistan envoy. They said Mamundzay’s role was under scanner for “a period of time”. “He is trying to create a rift between the Indian government and the Taliban,” one of the aforementioned officials said.
The official explained that even though India has not recognised the Taliban-led government but activities of Farid Mamundzay were “sufficient to create tensions between the Indian government and the Taliban regime”.
They said Mamundzay brought old leaders who were part of the government led by former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani with an intent to show to the Taliban that India is “cultivating leaders” from the Ghani government.
It should be noted that Farid Mamundzay’s appointment as Afghan envoy to India was delayed initially due to his close proximity to the Pakistani establishment.
CNN-News18 earlier reported that Mamundzay was missing from his office for the last two months. Sources told CNN-News18 that Mamundzay went to Saudi Arabia two months ago is yet to return. Another embassy official is looking after the work in Mamundzay’s absence.
Did Not Appoint Mamundzay: Taliban
When CNN-News18 reached out to the Taliban-led government in Kabul, they highlighted that Mamundzay was not their chosen ambassador and refused to make further comments on his absence. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) also refused to comment.
In April 2023, when Mamundzay was in London, trade counsellor Qadir Shah wrote to the MEA that he had been appointed as the chargé d’affaires (Acting Ambassador) in his place. The Taliban later confirmed the appointment.
People familiar with the developments, however, told CNN-News18 that “correspondence and work is going on regularly” and is not affected by any individual.
The controversy between Farid Mamundzay and Qadir Shah took an ugly turn earlier and Shah was stopped from entering the Afghanistan mission in New Delhi.
Comments
0 comment