Brian McDonald
New Delhi —Afghanistan’s top diplomat in India resigned days after she was caught by airport authorities smuggling nearly $2 million in gold into the country. Zakia Wardak, Afghan consul general in India’s financial capital Mumbai, released a statement statement on social media announcing his resignation.
The Afghan 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 longest-serving representative in India.
“It is with great regret that I announce my decision to step aside from my duties at the Consulate and Embassy in India, effective May 5, 2024,” Wardak said on Saturday.
Zakia Wardak/X
Indian media reports said Wardak was detained last month by financial intelligence officials at Mumbai airport upon arriving from Dubai, along with his son, carrying around 55 pounds of gold. She was not arrested due to her diplomatic immunity, according to reports, but the gold – valued at about $1.9 million – was confiscated.
Wardak’s dismissal leaves thousands of Afghan citizens, including students and businesspeople, without any consular representation in India. Most foreign nations, including India, do not officially recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan, but recognize it as the de facto governing authority.
In many Afghan missions, diplomats appointed by the former government refused to cede control of embassy buildings and properties to representatives of Taliban authorities.
Wardak said in the statement that he “encountered numerous personal attacks and defamation” last year.
Such incidents “demonstrated the challenges faced by women in Afghan society“, she added, without making any explicit reference to the gold allegations.
The Taliban have taken full control over about a dozen Afghan embassies abroad – including in Pakistan, China, Turkey and Iran.
Others operate in a hybrid system, with the ambassador leaving but embassy staff continuing to carry out routine consular work, such as issuing visas and other documents.
Most countries evacuated their missions from Kabul when the Taliban approached the Afghan capital in August 2021, although some embassies – including Pakistan, China and Russia – never closed and still have ambassadors in Kabul.
