Afghan embassy in Delhi rejects claim of change in leadership; Read full statement here

The Afghanistani embassy located in New Delhi rejected the claims that there have been changes in leadership after reports emerged that the country’s Taliban regime replaced the Afghan Ambassador in the Indian capital. According to the Afghan news outlet Khaama Press, the Taliban foreign ministry in Kabul appointed Mohammad Qadir Shah to lead the embassy in Delhi. However, the consulate employees in the Indian national capital vehemently denied this new change and accused Shah of spreading misinformation. In a statement released on Monday, the embassy made it clear that it is taking its stance to protect the genuine interest of the Afghan nationals. 

“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 administration,” the Embassy wrote in a statement. The consulate then went on to thank the Indian government for acknowledging the plight of the people of Afghan and not recognising the Taliban regime. In August 2021, the Taliban regime took over the country in a catastrophic military coup. Since then the regime has actively imposed restrictions on basic human rights, especially the rights of the women. “The individual who claims to have been named “charge d’affairs” by the Taliban has been responsible for spreading misinformation and running a baseless and unsubstantiated campaign against officials of the mission including totally fabricated allegations of corruption based on an unsigned letter,” the embassy further asserted in the statement.  

The statement was released by the Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi, on May 15, 2023, Monday.

Who is Mohammad Qadir Shah? The new ambassador appointed by Taliban 

According to Khaama Press, the new appointee has been working at the diplomatic office under the republic government. As per the news outlet, he has served as the embassy’s secretary in India for the past few years. His appointment came after reports emerged that his predecessor, Farid Mamundzay was ordered to leave the embassy making way for Shah to take over. However, Mamundzay described these reports as “baseless rumours” in a Facebook post he shared on Sunday. “Unfortunately, for the past three days, some media citing unknown and unknown addresses have been spreading one-sided and biased reports against the holy profession of law and journalism, which has no truth,” Mamundzay wrote in a Facebook post. “All the diplomats and colleagues of the embassy are committed to their country's dignity and dignity and their current affairs and consider the standard of judgment of their past and present affairs as the intention of their respected nation,” he added. 

An interesting fact about this saga is that both Farid Mamondzay and Qadir Shah were close aides to the country’s former Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar and was appointed to their respective post under Atmar’s leadership, Khaama Press reported. Meanwhile, in a letter to Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a group of representatives of Afghan nationals accused Ambassador Farid Mamondzay, Ziaullah Hashemi, head of the embassy’s finance and administrative affairs, and Shakib Ibrahim Ayazi, director of the embassy’s political affairs, of corruption and embezzlement. The Monday statement indicates that the embassy does not have a favourable opinion about the so-called “newly appointed” leadership.