Afghan Consul General Zakia Wardak was not arrested due to diplomatic immunity, Indian media reports
- Wardak was the country's highest-ranking representative in India.
- Gold worth about $1.9 million was confiscated in Aurora.
- The resignation leaves Afghans without consular representation.
Afghanistan's top diplomat in India has resigned after being accused of smuggling gold worth nearly $2 million into the country, according to media reports.
Zakia Wardak, Afghan Consul General in Mumbai, India, confirmed her resignation in her official name starting May 5, 2024.”
Afghanistan's embassy in New Delhi closed in November, more than two years after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul following the collapse of the Western-backed government, leaving Wardak as the country's most senior representative in India, according to AFP.
According to Indian media reports, Wardak was detained last month by financial intelligence authorities at Mumbai airport upon arrival from Dubai, along with her son, carrying 25 kilograms of gold.
She was not arrested due to her diplomatic immunity, according to reports, but the gold, valued at around $1.9 million, was confiscated.
Wardak's resignation leaves thousands of Afghan citizens, including students and businessmen, without any consular representation in India.
Most foreign nations – including India – do not officially recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan, but do recognize it as the de facto ruling authority.
In many Afghan missions, diplomats appointed by the previous government have refused to cede control of embassy buildings and property to representatives of the Taliban authorities.
Wardak said in the statement that he had “encountered numerous personal attacks and defamation” over the past year.
Incidents like this “have demonstrated the challenges women face in Afghan society,” she added, without explicitly referring to the gold accusations.
Taliban authorities have full control of about a dozen Afghan embassies abroad, including Pakistan, China, Turkiye and Iran.
Others operate a hybrid system, in which the ambassador has left but embassy staff continue to perform routine consular work, such as issuing visas and other documents.
Most countries evacuated their missions from Kabul as the Taliban approached the Afghan capital in August 2021, although a handful of embassies (including Pakistan, China and Russia) never closed and still have ambassadors in Kabul.
