India and Afghanistan agree to restore diplomatic relations

India and Afghanistan have agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations, four years after the Taliban came into power in the Central Asian country.

In a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi on Friday, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said India is “committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence” of Afghanistan.

“Closer cooperation between us contributes to your national development, as well as regional stability and resilience,” Jaishankar said. “To enhance that, I am pleased to announce today the upgrading of India's Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of Embassy of India,” he added.

The Indian Embassy in the Afghan capital was shut after the Taliban came into power, following a chaotic US withdrawal in 2021. The building functioned as a technical mission to facilitate Indian humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country.

Muttaqi welcomed the move and stated that it will “open a new chapter” in relations between the two neighbors. “Afghanistan looks at India as a close friend,” he said, adding that New Delhi was the first to respond to recent earthquakes with food and medicines.

New Delhi, which was close to the government of ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, has been gradually engaging the Taliban over the last few years. Muttaqi’s talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Dubai in January were New Delhi's first high-level official interaction with the Taliban since they regained power.

On Friday, Jaishankar said there was a shared commitment to growth and prosperity, but that this was threatened by cross-border terrorism, which both nations faced.

He stressed the need for coordinated efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and appreciated the sensitivity shown towards India's security concerns, especially during the terror attacks in Kashmir in April.

A few hours before the meeting between the ministers in New Delhi, an explosion was heard in Kabul. Media outlets in the region have linked the blast to growing tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Relations between the neighbors have deteriorated over the last few years, over the alleged presence of Pakistani militants in the Afghanistan side of their border.