'Old Habit': Centre On Pak Blaming India For Clashes With Afghanistan

India on Thursday said it is closely monitoring the situation arising out of the deadly conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and took a potshot at Islamabad for its "old practice" of blaming neighbours for its own internal failures.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India remains fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Afghanistan.

He also announced that India's "technical mission" in Kabul will transition into an embassy in the next few days.

The military conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan erupted last week following a Pakistani airstrike on Kabul. Afghanistan strongly responded to the attack following which the conflict escalated.

Both sides claimed inflicting heavy casualties on the other. The two countries agreed on a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday.

"We are closely monitoring the situation. Three things are clear -- one, that Pakistan hosts terrorist organisations and sponsors terrorist activities," Randhir Jaiswal said.

"Two, it is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbors for its own internal failures, and three, Pakistan is infuriated with Afghanistan exercising sovereignty over its own territories." The spokesperson said India remained "fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Afghanistan".

On upgrading of the Indian mission in Kabul, he said "our technical mission has been operational in Kabul since June 2022. Its transition to an embassy will happen in the next few days." Last week, India announced upgrading the technical mission in Kabul to the status of the embassy.

The announcement was made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar following his wide-ranging talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

India had withdrawn its officials from its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. In June 2022, India re-established its diplomatic presence in the Afghan capital by deploying the technical team.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)