For the first time, Afghan diplomats to be trained at Indian Embassy in Kabul: Report

For the first time, India will train Afghan diplomats at the Indian Embassy in Kabul in a move indicating positive bilateral ties between New Delhi and the Taliban-ruled country. The training programme for the Afghan diplomats will be conducted over four days between March 14 and March 17, according to a CNN-News18 report.

The participants in the training programme are the officials, who have recently joined Taliban cadres in Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry.

The move comes as a first step towards building relationships between the governments of both countries.

In June last year, India re-established its diplomatic presence in Kabul through a technical team in its embassy in Kabul.

In July 2022, India trained two dozen Afghan Military cadets in the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun, according to an ANI report.

Signalling further developing relations, India and other Asian nations announced a fresh tranche of 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan last month. The aid will be sent through the Chabahar Port in Iran instead of the ground route through Pakistan. The move came months after India announced assistance of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan, which is suffering from a severe food crisis.

India and five central Asian countries also expressed that Afghanistan should not be a base for terrorist activities. In the first meeting of the India-Central Asia joint working group on Afghanistan in New Delhi, the participants discussed regional threats of terrorism, extremism, radicalisation, and drug trafficking.

Earlier in February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a development assistance of Rs 200 crore ($24.3 million) for Afghanistan in the union budget, which was the same amount announced in last year’s budget. The Taliban welcomed the Indian announcement and said it will contribute to boosting relations and trust between the two countries.

However, India has not yet recognised the Taliban regime and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul.