Afghan authorities were probing whether Taliban insurgents kidnapped and executed Indian driver M R Kutty because of his nationality, Afghanistan Ambassador Masood Khalili said Wednesday.
"We are working on whether he was abducted because of his nationality. At the moment it appears they just wanted the projects to stop," he told reporters on the sidelines of an award ceremony in New Delhi.
Kutty, whose decapitated body was found Wednesday, was abducted from his car along with an Afghan driver and two guards in Afghanistan's Nimroz on Saturday.
While the Indian was executed, the Afghan driver was released.
"Indians, who make up a tiny minority in Afghanistan, enjoy the trust and respect of Afghan people," Khalili said and called Kutty's killing a terrorist act.
However, the ambassador rejected suggestions that Afghan authorities had reacted slowly to the Indian's abduction.
"Afghan authorities rushed as soon as the Taliban announced Kutty's abduction. There was no delay in response," he said.
Khalili, who was presented with Unity International's Lifetime Achievement Award in Diplomacy, also ruled out revival of the Taliban movement in his country.
"They are terrorists who are now in patches, cornered to the south and east of Afghanistan," Khalili, whose 10-year term as Afghan ambassador to India draws to a close soon, said.