[5][6] India believed its longtime alliance with Afghanistan, as well as its political and cultural ties, made it less of a target than many Western powers.

[11] An Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemeri Bashary, said the explosion was a suicide bomb, without providing additional details.

Another witness, Nik Mohammad, who was driving in the area, said that the road shook violently and he saw at least four vehicles badly damaged.

A Taliban spokesperson said the attacker was an Afghan man who blew up his sports utility vehicle laden with explosives just outside the embassy.

[12] G. Parthasarathy, a former diplomat and analyst at the Centre for Policy Research, said that although it was too early to point fingers there was a clear indication that the Taliban sees Indian economic assistance as complementary to American strategic objectives.

Phunchok Stobdan, a senior fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, also said that despite being the apparent target of the attack and some prior pressure from Washington to back off, given Pakistani sensitivities—India is still not likely to walk away from its Afghan commitments which include $1.1 billion in ongoing development projects.