‘Majority of Indians in Afghanistan back home’

Efforts to bring back every Indian ‘who wishes to return’ will continue: Govt

The Centre said yesterday that the majority of Indians wanting to return from Afghanistan has been evacuated and the government was consulting with various parties regarding the time for mounting fresh evacuation. “Our primary focus continues to be Indian nationals. We were able to bring out some Afghan nationals as well as nationals from other countries. Of these Afghan nationals, many of them are Sikh community and Hindus but primarily, we will continue with the focus on Indian nationals there, but we will also stand by Afghans who stood by us,” said Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson, the Ministry of External Affairs.

The MEA dismissed as “jumping the gun” a question regarding India having a policy on the Taliban, and reminded that the situation remained uncertain. “The primary concern is the security and safety of our people. Currently, there is a lack of clarity, or no clarity, about any entity forming the government in Kabul. I think we are jumping the gun about recognition. We continue to monitor the evolving situation which is very fluid,” said Bagchi.

Asked how many Indian nationals are still left in Afghanistan, he said, “This is a number that changes as we receive new information of people who contact us with a request to leave the country. There could be Indians who wish to continue

to stay. We may not know, or as they find other routes to other destinations, some of which we have facilitated. We have been in touch with other partners who have pulled them out.”

Bagchi added that the Centre’s assessment was that the majority of Indians who wished to return have been evacuated. “Of course, some more are likely to be in Afghanistan. I don’t have an exact number. You are aware of the very difficult situation on the ground right now. We are in touch with various parties regarding when we can mount such evacuation flights,” he said.

“We have evacuated more than 550 people in six flights, either directly from Kabul, or through Dushanbe. Of these, more than 260 were Indian nationals. This does not include the Indian embassy personnel who have also been repatriated and brought out from Afghanistan. Separately, the government also facilitated the evacuation of Indian nationals through other countries and partners. In this process, we were in touch with various countries, particularly the United States, which is controlling the Kabul airport,” he said.