Afghanistan Expels Senior Indian Intelligence Officer

Afghanistan Declares Senior Indian Intelligence Official Persona Non Grata

Afghan sources said that Taliban expelled an Indian official named Harish Kumar in mid-August, declaring him persona non grata. However, the next day, the Taliban’s foreign ministry told reporters that nothing so dramatic had happened, and that his posting had simply ended. Obviously, the two things cannot be true at the same time, it is to stop reading tea leaves.

Initial information about the persona non grata

The initial scoop came from the Afghanistan International on September 12.The sources say Kumar was asked to leave on August 17, after the Taliban’s intelligence service accused him of meeting and organizing anti-Taliban figures.

Moreover, the same report presented claims of a very clean timeline and planning for the opposition conference, which was first scheduled for Islamabad in August, but later cancelled after senior Taliban leaders objected.

The Taliban’s Reaction

A day later, the Taliban tried to put out the fire. The foreign ministry said no one had been declared persona non grata, and Kumar’s position had simply ended. But on the other hand, Afghanistan International stuck to the story and added passport and visa breadcrumbs, including a number and the date of first entry, which would make his Kabul tenure around 85 days. This information is fairly specific, but since these are still documents from a single outlet, they should be considered with a pinch of salt until confirmed by other sources.

Global response

At the same time, HTN World also repeated the eviction angle and added some additional details. According to them, Afghan intelligence raided a restaurant meeting in Shahr-e-Naw on August 15.

They detained the Afghan participants, formally informed the Indian embassy on August 16, and Kumar finally left for Delhi on August 17. Furthermore, his diplomatic passport D1156181 was “officially marked.”These points may be true, but the major international media has yet to compare them on a large scale.

Response of Pakistani media

Pakistani outlets and various reporters took the Afghanistan International’s line almost word for word. Often, they portrayed Kumar as an intelligence officer rather than just a diplomat. This angle is consistent with the regional narrative that readers are already accustomed to. However, most of the content was still based on the same Afghan outlet’s report. As a result, there is momentum behind the story, but more independent confirmation has not yet emerged.

Conference of anti-Taliban figures

If the broadsides are correct, the trigger for all this seems to be that planned opposition conference. According to Afghanistan International, the idea was to gather anti-Taliban figures in Islamabad at the end of August. It was when the project became too politically sensitive, there was a talk of moving it to Qatar or Dubai. Kumar’s reported meetings in Delhi, Doha and Kabul were presented as part of the same effort, which was obviously enough to raise alarm in Kabul.

Relations between India and the Taliban

Now the question is, where does the whole context leave India and the Taliban? India is present in Kabul with small and cautious steps. There is no official identification, but a team is deployed to handle aid, consular needs and broader relations. The Taliban, on the other hand, like to show that they control the ground and will not tolerate any political activity against them, especially if it is linked to their capital. These two behaviors can go hand in hand, but only if everyone is careful with their steps.

If you are reading this news in South Asia, then this incident definitely feels like a kind of validation.

Islamabad has long argued that India is playing a covert game in Afghanistan that destabilizes the region. Pakistani newspapers are already seeing the incident as evidence of this claim.

Although, the authenticity of each detail is a separate question, the mere impression is enough to harden the ideas.

Similarities and contradictions on the event

For now, it’s fair to say that several outlets agree on a mid-August sequence, which includes a raid, an embassy summons, and an immediate departure for Delhi. The Taliban’s public line has shifted from eviction to normalization, which seems to be a face-saving effort to maintain ties with India. However, passport details and the “officially marked” claim are still based on weak sources, so they should only be placed in the probable column for now.

Wider picture

The big picture is that the margins for diplomats in Kabul are very narrow. If someone is considered to be involved or close to a political organization, he immediately becomes problematic. So, it is expected that India will further restrict its activities. Besides, the Taliban will insist that every political activity related to Afghanistan is linked to their will. Additionally, Pakistan will try to refer the matter every time, whenever there would be a discussion on India-Afghanistan relations. However, if there is a strong official statement from Delhi or Kabul, the matter will either be resolved or flared up again.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are exclusively those of the author and do not reflect the official stance, policies, or perspectives of the Platform.