India upgrades Kabul mission to Embassy, announces aid package

India announced on Friday that it is upgrading its Technical Mission in Kabul to the Embassy of India, a move unveiled by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during bilateral talks in New Delhi with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Muttaqi, who arrived in India on Thursday under a United Nations Security Council travel exemption, is the first senior Afghan minister to visit New Delhi since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.

"I am pleased to announce today the upgrading of India's Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of Embassy of India," Jaishankar said in opening remarks, reiterating New Delhi's commitment to Afghanistan's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. He also announced a package of humanitarian and development assistance including six new development projects, the gift of 20 ambulances of which five were handed over symbolically, supply of MRI and CT scan machines, vaccines, cancer medicines, rehabilitation materials through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, continued food assistance, aid for earthquake-hit areas and reconstruction of homes.

Muttaqi welcomed the upgrade as opening a new chapter in bilateral...