SRINAGAR, India (AP) — India is upgrading its technical mission in Kabul to a full embassy, India’s foreign minister announced Friday after meeting his Afghanistan counterpart in New Delhi. The announcement was made during the first high-level diplomatic engagement since the Taliban seized power in 2021 after two decades of U.S. military presence.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have intensified on the border and online, with airstrikes, ceasefire violations, and viral social media exchanges highlighting the deepening crisis even as talks are planned in Doha.

As it elevates its relationship with India, Afghanistan’s Taliban government is striking a delicate balance in the region.

The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan are international pariahs. But after a visit to India and the promise of normalised relations, that may be about to change.

Addressing a passing out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) in Kakul, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir said that there was “no space for war in a nuclearised environment.”

India is hosting the Taliban minister during a high profile but controversial visit as it seeks to upgrade its diplomatic ties with Afghanistan’s hardline Islamist regime

India on Friday upgraded ties with Afghanistan's Taliban administration, giving a boost to the diplomatically isolated group, by announcing it would reopen its embassy in Kabul that was shut after the Taliban seized power in 2021.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif said that India "could play dirty at the border" and claimed Pakistan was ready for a "two-front war" amid border tensions with Afghanistan. He made the remarks in an interview with Samaa Tv while responding to a question about the possibility of Indian provocations along the border.

A men-only press conference with the Taliban foreign minister in New Delhi drew sharp rebuke from Indian media, forcing the religious hardline group to also invite female journalists.

Although India has not extended diplomatic recognition to the Kabul regime, the upgrade of the bilateral relationship opens a new chapter in its ties with Afghanistan, and comes at a time when relations between the Taliban regime and Pakistan, which supported and sustained the Taliban for decades, have deteriorated significantly.

Akhtar was referring to the restrictions imposed upon girls and women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, which includes ban on obtaining education beyond the sixth grade, and seeking employment.