New Delhi (PTI): India on Friday announced the upgrading of its technical mission in Kabul to the status of an embassy with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar appreciating the Taliban set-up in Kabul for showing sensitivity towards New Delhi's security concerns.
Jaishankar made the announcement during his wide-ranging talks with visiting 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India had withdrawn its officials from its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.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 a "technical team".
"Your visit marks an important step in advancing our ties and affirming the enduring friendship between India and Afghanistan," Jaishankar told Muttaqi in his opening remarks at the meeting.
"As a contiguous neighbour and a well-wisher of the Afghan people, India has a deep interest in your development and progress," he said.
Jaishankar also announced that India's longstanding partnership that has seen so many Indian projects in Afghanistan stands renewed.
The external affairs ministry said both India and Afghanistan have a common commitment towards growth and prosperity.
"However, these are endangered by the shared threat of cross-border terrorism that both our nations face. We must coordinate efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," he said.
"We appreciate your sensitivity towards India's security concerns. Your solidarity with us in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack was noteworthy," he added.
In his remarks, Muttaqi described India as an important country of the region and that it has always stood by Afghan people and has assisted them in many areas.
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Lucknow (PTI): Lucknow Super Giants pacer Mohsin Khan added another sordid chapter to Kolkata Knight Riders' batting woes, taking five wickets to restrict the three-time champions to a modest 155 for seven in their IPL match here on Sunday.
Mohsin’s 5 for 23, a personal best for the left-arm pacer in this format, tore apart an already struggling KKR batting unit, as he snaffled the cream wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Tim Seifert, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell and Anukul Roy.
Rinku Singh (83 not out, 51 balls) made a well-paced fifty and punished Mohammed Shami in the 19th over for 6, 4, 4 and the smoked four sixes in a row against spinner Digvesh Rathi as KKR made 43 runs in the last two overs to go past the 150-run mark.
But his fifty remained a lone act, as Mohsin firmly stood in the limelight.
His bowling ethos were rooted in simple tactics — bang the ball into the black soil pitch to gain bounce or use cutters at various pace to keep the batters guessing.
Mohsin, who started the night with a wicket maiden, showed his variety across two dismissals.
He followed Rahane with a fuller ball as the batter tried to go over the covers, but the ball’s trajectory forced the KKR skipper to just slice the ball up for a simple catch for Aiden Markram.
The 27-year-old stayed calm when Green, who looked comfortable out there while smashing George Linde for two successive sixes, slammed him for a huge maximum.
Two balls later, Mohsin dug one short, challenging Green (34) to go for the pull and the Australian all-rounder took the bait.
The into-the-body angle worked again as Green could only sky the ball to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Green’s ouster also ended a fifth wicket alliance worth 42 with Rinku Singh.
Bizarre dismissal of Raghuvanshi
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If the existing turmoil was not enough, KKR had to bear the dejection of seeing Angkrish Raghuvanshi getting dismissed obstructing the field.
On the final ball of the fifth over from Prince Yadav, Raghuvanshi nudged one towards mid-on and set off for a single, only to be rejected by Green.
Raghuvanshi put in a dive to save himself but he came in the line of the throw from Shami.
Subsequently, third umpire Rohit Pandit accepted LSG’s appeal and decided that the batter’s turning radius was more than required, eventually resulting in the batter’s dismissal in a rare manner.
