Embassy of Pakistan, Kabul

The Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul is the diplomatic mission of Pakistan in Afghanistan.[2] Pakistan also operates consulates in the Afghan cities of Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif.[3]

Embassy of Pakistan, Kabul
Location	Kabul, Afghanistan
Address	Kārte Parwān, Kabul Province
Ambassador	Zahid Nasrullah Khan[1]
Website	pakembassykabul.org

The current Pakistani envoy to Kabul is Zahid Nasrullah Khan.[1]

Background

Further information: Afghanistan–Pakistan relations

Located in Kabul's Kārte Parwān neighbourhood, it is Pakistan's largest embassy abroad in terms of size and also one of its busiest.[2] The residence of the Pakistani ambassador enjoins the embassy, together collectively known as the Quaid-e-Azam Complex.[2]

There are presently 60 personnel working at the mission. The operating budget of Pakistani diplomatic missions in Afghanistan was estimated at ₨ 527 million as of 2016.[4]

The embassy provides visa services for Afghans, as well as overseeing bilateral affairs and matters pertaining to Pakistani interests in Afghanistan. English language courses and computer classes are also provided for free to Afghan students in one section of the embassy.[2]

History

The site of the current embassy, whose grounds sprawl over 26 acres, was inaugurated in 2012. The embassy is hosted inside white, palatial colonial-era buildings that previously belonged to the British Legation in Kabul. The British Legation was constructed in 1927, shortly after the 1919 Treaty of Rawalpindi which accorded recognition of Afghanistan's independence.[2]

After 1947, Pakistan's right to ownership of the buildings by virtue of being a successor state to the British Raj was recognised in the 1960s but possession was not formally acceded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office until four and a half decades later, by which time most of the complex was in a state of disrepair; only a clock tower on the boundary walls stood undamaged.[2]

After taking control of the property, the Pakistani government renovated and reconstructed the premises within six months, for the purpose of its diplomatic mission.[2] The present-day residential complex of the ambassador, whose construction was ordered by British foreign secretary Lord George Curzon, once housed the British envoy to Afghanistan.[2]

Incidents

Main articles: 1995 attack on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and 2003 attack on Pakistan Embassy in Kabul

Pakistan's diplomatic mission in Kabul, before moving to its present location, has been attacked twice – including in 1995 when nearly 5,000 protesters sacked the embassy[5] and in 2003 when it was ransacked by a group of 500 protestors.[6]

See also

• Afghanistan–Pakistan relations
• Embassy of Afghanistan, Islamabad

References

1. Liuhto, Maija (23 May 2018). "Amb. Zahid Nasrullah Khan on Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations". The Diplomat. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
2. Fernandez, Robin (22 October 2012). "Palatial mansion: Pakistan's biggest and busiest diplomatic mission". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
3. "Consulates". Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
4. Tanoli, Qadeer (5 December 2016). "Size of Delhi, Kabul missions fails to lift ties". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
5. Rubin, Barry M.; Judith Colp Rubin (2008). Chronologies of Modern Terrorism. M.E. Sharpe. p. 265. ISBN 978-0765620477.
6. "Pakistan mission attacked; Karzai offers regrets". Dawn. 9 July 2003. Retrieved 31 December 2018.