Withdrawal of diplomats to India’s emergency e-visa move: Key developments in Afghan crisis.....
Withdrawal of diplomats to India’s emergency e-visa move: Key developments in Afghan crisis.....
India on Tuesday withdrew its ambassador and diplomatic staff from Kabul, flying out some 150 people in a C-17 Globemaster heavy lift aircraft from the Afghanistan capital two days after a Taliban takeover of the war-torn country.
Another 45 diplomats and security personnel were brought back by a C-17 aircraft on Monday as part of an extensive evacuation programme that was kept tightly under wraps and put into motion after the Indian side received credible inputs about possible threats from rouge elements and Pakistani terror groups.
The two C-17s flew into Kabul using a circuitous route through Iranian airspace and over the Arabian Sea to avoid flying over Pakistan or spending too much time in the uncontrolled Afghan airspace. As the Kabul airport is small and the aircraft were offered slots of limited duration, the C-17s halted in the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe till it was time for them to fly into Kabul to pick up their passengers.“In view of the prevailing situation in Kabul, it was decided that our embassy personnel would be immediately moved to India. This movement has been completed in two phases and the ambassador and all other India-based personnel have reached New Delhi [on Tuesday] afternoon,” the external affairs ministry said.
The withdrawal of ambassador Rudrendra Tandon and other staff from Kabul reflected India’s misgivings about the Taliban’s assurances that all embassies and diplomats would be provided security. Taliban spokesman Suhail Saheen had tweeted on Monday night that no problems will be created for diplomats, embassies and charitable workers but this failed to reassure the Indian side.
Tandon, who had taken up his assignment in Kabul only in August last year, told reporters during an interaction at Gujarat’s Jamnagar airbase, where the C-17 jet halted to refuel on Tuesday, that some Indian citizens were still in Afghanistan and Air India would continue operating flights from Kabul as long as the airport there remains functional to bring them back.He added, “As you know, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan no longer exists and the situation is quite fluid now.”
Air India has temporarily suspended its flights to Kabul because of conditions at the airport, but the external affairs ministry has opened a help desk and will ensure that anyone stuck in Kabul is brought back, he said.
Asked about the number of Indian nationals who are still in Afghanistan, Tandon said it would be difficult to give an exact figure as Indians didn’t always register themselves with the embassy in Kabul despite advisories.
People familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity that at least 300 Indian nationals, including those working for Western firms and other professionals, were believed to be in Afghanistan. Flights by Air India to bring back these Indians are expected to resume once the civilian side of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai international airport reopens.The airport, currently under the control of US troops, was closed on Monday following chaotic scenes as thousands of Afghans seeking to flee the Taliban entered the facility and marched onto the tarmac. Some desperately clung onto a US military aircraft and at least two people plunged to their death.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar was involved in efforts to oversee the timely departure of the two military flights that evacuated the diplomats and other nationals. At almost 3 am 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.”
On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to assess the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting was attended by Jaishankar, home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and ambassador Tandon.Meanwhile, the Union home ministry announced on Tuesday it had reviewed visa provisions in view of the situation in Afghanistan and introduced a new category of electronic visas called “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” to fast-track applications by Afghan nationals. India has also received requests from Afghan Sikh and Hindu community leaders and is in touch with them.
The people cited above said the Indian embassy in Kabul was technically not shut down as it is still being manned by local Afghan staff – an arrangement similar to the one made for the consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif, from where all Indian staff were pulled out in recent weeks as the security situation deteriorated. The local staff have been given specific assignments and are being paid their salaries.
The decision regarding the withdrawal of India’s diplomatic personnel and other staff was based on two factors – the security of the personnel and ensuring that their departure was not perceived as abandonment by Afghan partners. An earlier Indian assessment had suggested the Taliban would continue negotiations to gain legitimacy, at least till August 31, when the US drawdown was to be completed, but the situation changed swiftly as the Taliban marched towards Kabul over the weekend.
Afghan law enforcement personnel and police forces “simply vanished” and were replaced by the Taliban, one of the people cited above said. That was when the green signal was given to withdraw all personnel from the embassy in Kabul.
