India not winding up Afghanistan operations

New Delhi, (IANS) India Wednesday rejected reports that it was winding up its operations in Afghanistan and stressed that its commitment to the development of the war-torn nation remains "undiluted".

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said it was "baseless and factually incorrect" that India was issuing an advisory to its citizens in Afghanistan to return home and was planning to scale down it's presence in the country.

"India's commitment to development partnership with Afghanistan remains undiluted," Prakash said in a statement, amid media reports suggesting that the government was winding up all missions in Afghanistan in the wake of terror attacks in recent months targeting Indians and Indian facilities.

The external affairs ministry had last week clarified that Indian medical missions in Afghanistan have been functioning normally, barring the one in Kabul.

The other missions in Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Mazar-e-Sharif were functioning normally, the ministry said. India also has consulates in these cities.

National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon toured Afghanistan last week following the Feb 26 Kabul terror strike that killed seven Indians. He also stressed "India will not scale down operations" in that country.