‘Difficult exercise’: India brings back envoy, staff from Kabul
NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday brought back that its ambassador and staff at the embassy in Kabul even as a second C-17 Globemaster heavy lift aircraft took off from the Afghanistan capital with more than 150 people on board.
The focus now would be to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from Kabul in view of the prevailing situation in the country, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said.
On Monday, another C-17 aircraft had brought back some 40 people, including diplomats and security personnel, before operations at Kabul airport were suspended and control of the airspace over the city was handed over to the military.
In a tweet, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said the movement from Kabul to India was a “difficult and complicated” exercise and thanked all those whose cooperation and facilitation made it possible
“In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.
Ambassador Rudrendra Tandon had taken up his assignment in Kabul in August last year, and people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity that the decision to bring back the envoy and diplomatic staff was made because of the perception that their security could not guaranteed in the Afghan capital.
After his return, Tandon said some Indian citizens are still in Afghanistan and Air India will continue operating flights from Kabul as long as the airport there remains functional.
“We are continuously monitoring the situation because there are still some Indian citizens who are there. That is why Air India will continue to run its
commercial services to Kabul as long as the airport in Kabul functions,” Tandon told reporters during a brief interaction at the airbase in Jamnagar, Gujarat, where the C-17 landed en route to Hindon airbase.
The people said the second C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force was bringing back more than 150 people, including officials and security personnel from the embassy and some Indian nationals, from Kabul. The people were brought into the secure areas of Kabul airport late on Monday, they added.
On Monday, the people who were to return on the second military evacuation flight were initially turned back by Taliban fighters guarding Kabul’s diplomatic quarter and later drove to the airport following intense efforts by the Indian side all through the day.
Jaishankar too was involved in these efforts. At almost 3am on Tuesday, he tweeted about his discussions in this regard with US secretary of state Antony Blinken: “Discussed latest developments in Afghanistan with @SecBlinken. Underlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul. Deeply appreciate the American efforts underway in this regard.”
The MEA said the immediate priority for the government is to obtain accurate information about all Indian nationals currently staying in Afghanistan.
There was no official word on the two C-17 flights. The people cited above said both C-17s had flown into Kabul using a more circuitous route through Iranian airspace and over the Arabian Sea in order to avoid flying over Pakistan and spending too much time in Afghan airspace.
Separately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security against the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on Tuesday. Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, national security adviser Ajit Doval and foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, besides senior officials, were also present in the meeting.
It was not immediately clear what transpired in the meeting.
The repatriation of the ambassador and other staff from Kabul reflected India’s lack of trust in the Taliban’s announcement that all embassies and diplomats would be provided security. Taliban spokesman Suhail Saheen had tweeted on Monday night: “We assure all diplomats, embassies, consulates, and charitable workers, whether they are international or national, that not only no problem will be created for them on the part of IEA but a secure environment will be provided to them, Inshallah.”
After the Covid-19 outbreak last year, India had closed its consulates in Herat and Jalalabad, while the consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif were left in the care of local Afghan staff as fighting with the Taliban intensified in recent weeks.
In a separate development, the Union home ministry (MHA) announced on Twitter on Tuesday that it had reviewed “visa provisions in view of the current situation in Afghanistan” and introduced a new category of electronic visa called “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” to “fast-track visa applications for entry into India”.
The online portal for e-visa applications was updated and when an applicant selects “Afghanistan” in the drop down menu, the “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” category shows automatically. Afghanistan is not yet listed among “eligible countries” on the homepage of the e-visa portal, but the application form was updated to include Afghanistan and the new e-visa category, officials said.
Jaishankar also tweeted that the Indian side is in “constant touch with the Sikh and Hindu community leaders in Kabul”, and their “welfare will get our priority attention”.