New Delhi, Sept 07:
India may not reopen its embassy in Kabul anytime soon, though it will maintain people-to-people linkages with Afghanistan, by having communication channels with the top echelons of the Taliban opened, ThePrint has learnt.
While the Narendra Modi government has established a high-level group focused on Afghanistan, which includes National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, the country will not have any kind of “physical presence” there,
However, India does plan to continue receiving Afghan students and others who come for medical reasons as soon as commercial flights resume between Delhi and Kabul, and after all evacuation is done, sources said.
But New Delhi will not officially recognise the Taliban government, which is expected to be formed soon, and thus, neither side will be able to appoint their envoys to each other’s capitals.
According to sources, as many as 100-150 Indian nationals continue to remain stuck in Afghanistan, and they are mostly in the provinces. The majority who were in Kabul have been evacuated.
India has also not yet started giving e-visas, after invalidating all visas in August within days of the Taliban taking over Kabul.
Sources said India will start distributing e-visas as soon as international flight operations resume in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, those who are already present in India and came here for medical treatment are now applying for visas to the Pakistan High Commission, in order to travel to Afghanistan via that country.
On Monday, addressing a press conference in Kabul, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said international flights will resume soon.
( Courtesy The Print)
