Focus on safe return of Indians from Afghanistan: Jaishankar
NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: India’s focus in Afghanistan is the safety and repatriation of its nationals and the Afghan people will be central to New Delhi’s approach to the war-torn country following the takeover by the Taliban, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.
Jaishankar was the first senior Indian leader to publicly speak on the situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban marched into Kabul on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. India withdrew its envoy and all diplomatic staff from Kabul on Tuesday because of the deteriorating security situation.
“At the moment, we are – like everybody else – very carefully following developments in Afghanistan. I think our focus is on ensuring the security, in Afghanistan, and the safe return of Indian nationals who are there,” he said during a media stakeout at the United Nations in New York. “So, that is really what has been very much the focus of my own engagements here, talking to the UN secretary-general, to other colleagues who are here, as well as with the US secretary of state a few days ago,” he added.
Though Jaishankar didn’t give details, hundreds of Indian nationals – most of them professionals and workers – are still in Afghanistan. Officials have said they will be repatriated once commercial flights resume from Kabul airport, which was closed on Monday amid chaos as thousands of people entered the tarmac while attempting to flee from the Taliban.
Asked if India, which was the largest regional donor in Afghanistan with investments of almost $3 billion, will continue to be engaged with the country, Jaishankar said, “First of all, while you used the word investment, for us, it reflected what was a historical relationship with the Afghan people. I think that relationship with the Afghan people, obviously, continues and that will guide our approach to Afghanistan in the coming days.”
Jaishankar ducked a question on whether India has been in contact with the Taliban in recent days, and said: “I think at this point of time, we are looking at what is the evolving situation in Kabul. Obviously, the Taliban and its representatives have come to Kabul. So, I think we need to take it on from there.”
Jaishankar arrived in New York on Monday as the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, the second time in 10 days that the body met under India’s presidency for August to discuss the issue.
Earlier, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on ensuring accountability for crimes against UN peacekeepers for the first time during a meeting held under the Indian presidency.
The resolution, adopted at an open debate chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar, calls for prevention, investigation and prosecution to bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against UN peacekeepers. It was initiated by India in the Security Council earlier this year and co-sponsored by all 15 permanent and non-permanent members of the body. The Security Council also adopted the first technology-related presidential statement on peacekeeping — “Technology for Peacekeeping” — which called for recognising that “technology has the potential to act as a force multiplier”.
India, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for August, is one of the largest troop contributors for UN peacekeeping missions. It has provided more than 250,000 personnel for 49 missions over the decades, and 174 of its troops have died during these deployments. Currently, more than 5,000 Indian personnel are deployed in nine missions.
Jaishankar said 21st century peacekeeping “must be anchored in a strong ecosystem of technology and innovation” that can facilitate missions to implement their mandates in complex environments. “After all, it helps them to adapt to changing conflict dynamics and take advantage of increased efficiencies,” he said.