The Afghan embassy in India has purportedly come out with a communication on closing down its operations and New Delhi is examining its authenticity, sources have said.
The embassy has been headed by Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and it is learnt that he is currently in London. Mamundzay was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government and he has been operating as the Afghan envoy even after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Afghan embassy in New Delhi has purportedly issued a communication on this issue, the sources in the Indian government said on reports of the embassy closing down its operations.
"The authenticity of the communication and its contents are being examined," one of the sources said.
"This is in the context of the ambassador being out of India for the past many months, a steady departure of diplomats to third countries reportedly after receiving asylum as well as reports of infighting amongst the embassy personnel," the source said.
It is learnt that the embassy has sent a communication to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on its decision to close down operations in the next couple of days. There was no immediate response from the embassy on the matter.
In April-May, the embassy was rocked by a power struggle in the wake of reports of the Taliban appointing a charge d'affaires to head the mission, replacing Mamundzay. Following the episode, the embassy came out with a statement that there was no change in its leadership.
The tussle for power had erupted after Qadir Shah, who was working as a trade councillor at the embassy since 2020, wrote to the MEA in late April claiming that he was appointed as the charge d'affaires at the embassy by the Taliban.
India is yet to recognise the Taliban set-up and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul, besides insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
"Dark Moment": Israeli Envoy On World Court's 'Arrest Netanyahu Order'
Travel Influencer Slammed For Fangirling, Posing With Taliban Fighters In Afghanistan Attend Mosque Or Be Punished, Taliban Chief Orders Government Workers "Eye For Eye": Taliban Publicly Executes 2 Murder Convicts In Stadium Amazon Employee Greets Friend At Wedding, Dies Of Cardiac Arrest TIME Magazine Shares Elon Musk's To-Do List, He Responds This Asian City Is Emerging As Sex Tourism Hub. It's Not Where You Think "Speculative, Inaccurate": Canada Factchecks Own Media Over India Charges Want To Read Voice Notes? WhatsApp Brings To You Voice Message Transcripts In Bihar, Teacher And Principal Walk Into School Drunk, Arrested Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.