The Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul is the

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Pakistan also operates consulates in the Afghan cities of

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

and

Mazar-e-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

. The current Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan is Obaid ur Rehman Nizamani.

Background

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

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. After 1947, Pakistan's right to ownership of the buildings by virtue of being a successor state to the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

was recognised in the 1960s but possession was not formally acceded by the

British Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

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. After taking control of the property, the Pakistani government renovated and reconstructed the premises within six months, for the purpose of its diplomatic mission. 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.

Incidents

Pakistan's diplomatic mission in Kabul has been attacked multiple times. On 30 March 1955, a group of pro-

Pashtunistan Pashtunistan ( ps, پښتونستان, lit=land of the Pashtuns) is a historical region in Central Asia and South Asia, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtuns, Pashtun people of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto ...

agitators attacked the embassy and ambassador's residence, also tearing down the Pakistani flag, to protest against the merger of the Pashtun-dominated

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...

into

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...

province as part of the

One Unit The One Unit Scheme ( ur, ; bn, এক ইউনিট ব্যবস্থা) was a geopolitical programme launched by the Government of Pakistan led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955 ...

policy. The protestors were encouraged by Afghan prime minister

Mohammed Daoud Khan Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup ...

and were bussed to the site, and the Afghan police did not intervene. The following day, Pakistan's consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad were assaulted, and Pakistanis reacted by attacking the Afghan consulate in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

. In 1995, nearly 5,000 protesters sacked the current embassy and in 2003 it was ransacked by a group of 500 protestors.

List of Pakistani Ambassadors to Afghanistan

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embassy of Pakistan, Kabul Afghanistan–Pakistan relations

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...