NewsGate Press Network

India is slowly taking small steps in an attempt to re-open its mission in Afghanistan as news came-in on Thursday the 23rd of June 2022 that ten months after vacating all Indian staff from the embassy following the Taliban takeover, an “Indian technical team” is back in Kabul.

This development took place within weeks of a recent visit of a high-level official team from India led by Mr. JP Singh, joint secretary in the Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan division (the PIA Div) in MEA who also held a meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Early on Wednesday morning Afghanistan suffered a massive earthquake that killed over 1000 while reducing many villages into rubble.

The technical team that landed in Kabul on Thursday carried a small consignment relief and aid material.

A press statement issued by the MEA stated that “in order to closely monitor and coordinate the efforts of various stakeholders for the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and in continuation of our engagement with the Afghan people, an Indian technical team has reached Kabul today and has been deployed in our Embassy there.

“Our longstanding links with Afghan society and our development partnership including humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, will continue to guide our approach going forward”, the MEA statement added.

It may be recalled that during a weekly presser MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in answer to a query on whether India was planning to reopen its embassy in Kabul had said that ‘the embassy was never closed and was being manned by its local Afghan staff.’

One important component of India’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan is a promised delivery of 50,000 MT of wheat. However given the various logistical problems that India is facing with regard to the delivery of this assistance package, it is a matter of fact that only 20,000 MT has been supplied to Kabul till date.

Now that this technical team has taken its position in Kabul, it is believed that some speed could be achieved in the near future with regard to urgent aid for the people of Afghanistan.