Concerning the Afghan embassy’s internal power struggle, the Ministry of External Affairs

India declared on Friday that the situation is a “internal matter” of the embassy as the Afghan embassy in Delhi struggles with a power struggle after the Taliban named a diplomat to lead the mission in lieu of the incumbent.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokeswoman for the external affairs ministry, responded to an inquiry about the incident by saying, “From our perspective, this is an internal matter of the Afghan embassy and we hope that they would resolve it internally.”

Even after the Taliban took control in August 2021, Ambassador Farid Mamundzay Mamundzay, who was chosen by the previous Ashraf Ghani administration, continued to serve as the Afghan ambassador.

Qadir Shah was, however, chosen by the Taliban to lead the operation in April. Since 2020, Shah has served as a trade counsellor in the Afghan embassy.

Shah attempted to take over the embassy as the charge d’affaires late last month when Mamundzay was on a trip overseas, but other diplomats at the post reportedly blocked him.

Following allegations that Shah had been chosen by the Taliban as the charge d’affaires to oversee the mission in place of Mamundzay, the Afghan embassy said on May 15 that there had been no change in the embassy’s management.

“The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan categorically rejects the claims from an individual claiming to have taken charge of the mission in New Delhi at the behest of the Taliban,” the embassy led by Mamundzay had said in a statement.

When Mamundzay was away from home, according to those with knowledge of the situation, Shah requested recognition in a letter to the MEA.

By sending a “technical team” to its embassy in Kabul in June of last year, India restored its diplomatic representation there.

After the Taliban took control, India withdrew its representatives from the embassy over worries for their safety.

According to information obtained, the Taliban made at least 14 efforts to have the ambassador removed from the embassy over the course of the last two years and repeatedly informed New Delhi that the diplomats stationed at the Afghan embassy in India no longer serve as ambassadors for Kabul.