EVACUATIONS OF INDIANS IN FOCUS, MONITORING DEVELOPMENTS IN AFGHANISTAN: MEA
Says the question of whether to recognise the Taliban rule in Afghanistan or not comes later
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said a vast majority of its citizens who wished to return home from Afghanistan have been evacuated and it is carefully monitoring the situation in the neighbouring country.
Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India’s focus has been to evacuate its citizens who are stranded in Afghanistan.
“We continue to monitor the situation very carefully. It is an evolving situation,” he said at a media briefing.
Bagchi said India has evacuated over 550 people in six separate flights, either from Kabul or Dushanbe.
“Of these, over 260 were Indians. The government of India also facilitated the evacuation of Indian nationals through other agencies. We were in touch with various countries, like US, Tajikistan,” Bagchi said.
Asked whether India will recognise a Taliban dispensation in Afghanistan, Bagchi said there is currently a lack of clarity or no clarity about any entity forming a government in Kabul.
“The situation on the ground is uncertain. The prime concern is the security and safety of the people .... ,” he said at the weekly news briefing.
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said a vast majority of its citizens who wished to return home from Afghanistan have been evacuated and it is carefully monitoring the situation in the neighbouring country.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India’s focus has been to evacuate its citizens who are stranded in Afghanistan.
“We continue to monitor the situation very carefully. It is an evolving situation,” he said at a media briefing.
The ministry reiterated that the first priority of the government at this moment is to safely evacuate people from Afghanistan.
The question of whether to recognise the Taliban rule in Afghanistan or not comes later.
“The situation on the ground is uncertain (in Afghanistan). The primary concern is the security and safety of people. Currently, there is no clarity about any entity forming a government in Kabul. I think we are jumping the gun regarding recognition,” Bagchi said during a press briefing on Friday.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday briefed an all-party meeting on the Afghanistan situation where he underlined that the current stance of India is to wait and watch.
At the same time, India is engaged with important stakeholders and other countries on the Afghan issue. What need to be seen first is whether the new dispensation in Afghanistan will be solely a government of the Taliban or be part of a powersharing arrangement with other
Afghan leaders, the ministry has clarified.
On August 15, the Taliban completed its capture of Afghanistan except for the Panjshir province, as Kabul fell to the hands of the group.
Since then, several rounds of consultations are going on regarding the next government of Afghanistan.
While initially an interim set-up was proposed, later the Taliban reportedly claimed their government and names of several ministers have been already announced.
But the anti-Taliban force which has been negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban is pitching for an all-inclusive government.
Unless it’s cleared who is going to govern Afghanistan, the question of recognition does not arise, the external affairs ministry has made it clear.
India has been in touch with countries such as the US, UK, France, Russia, China, Germany, Qatar, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan as well as with the UN Secretary-General and UN Security Council on the developments in Afghanistan, the external affairs ministry has said.
India’s evacuation drive from Kabul will go on, Bagchi said adding that a vast majority of Indians who wanted to return have been evacuated.