Afghan crisis: Jaishankar & Blinken hold consultations
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar spoke to US secretary of state Antony J. Blinken late Saturday night, after which he said both discussed the situation in Afghanistan and the agenda of the UN Security Council. New Delhi has been in close touch with the US on the Indian evacuation operations since the Americans are now in control of Kabul airport.
“Spoke to US Secretary of State @Secblinken. Continued our discussions on Afghanistan. Also exchanged views on the agenda of UNSC,” the minister tweeted.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan.
The conversation came two days after a suicide bombing just outside the Kabul airport killed 13 American troops and around 170 Afghan people. “Spoke to US secretary of state Blinken. Continued our discussions on Afghanistan. Also exchanged views on the agenda of UNSC,” Mr Jaishankar tweeted.
On his part, the US Secretary of State said he and Mr Jaishankar discussed shared priorities of the two countries including continued coordination on Afghanistan.
“Spoke with Indian external affairs minister Dr S. Jaishankar today to discuss our shared priorities including continued coordination on Afghanistan and in the United Nations. Look forward to continuing to deepen our partnership,” Mr Blinken said on Twitter.
Separately, spokesperson in the US state department Ned Price said Mr Blinken and Mr Jaishankar agreed to remain “closely coordinated on shared goals and priorities to deepen the US-India partnership.”
Following the Kabul bombing, India said the attack reinforced the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism.
It may be noted that foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla is visiting the United States this week and will engage in bilateral consultations with US officials in Washington after attending UNSC sessions in New York.
India on Friday said it is carefully monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and that its primary focus is to bring back the Indians who are still in that country.
The MEA had said that the “vast majority” of Indians who were in Afghanistan had already been evacuated to India on a total of six evacuation flights but that a group of 20 Indian nationals and a number of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus could not make it to the airport in time this Wednesday to catch an Indian evacuation flight from Kabul to Delhi. The MEA had also said “some more (Indians) are likely to be in Afghanistan”.