As many as 565 people, including 112 Afghan nations, have been evacuated by India from Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control of Kabul, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday. The MEA, led by S Jaishankar, shared details of developments on pre-emptive and evacuation measures taken in Afghanistan after Taliban began seizing key provinces of the country, and finally Kabul – the capital city – on August 15.
As part of pre-emptive measures, the following decisions were taken since April 2020.
- April 2020: Temporary withdrawal of India-based personnel from our Consulates in Herat and Jalalabad in April 2020.
- June 2021: Scale down of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
- July 10-11: Evacuation from Kandahar.
- August 10-11: Evacuation from Mazar-e-Sharif.
A series of security advisories were issued on June 29, July 24, August 10, and August 12, advising Indian nations to leave immediately and on discontinuation of commercial airlines.
The floor leaders were also briefed about India’s priorities in the circumstances, which were given as:
- Evacuation of Indian nationals, safety of our diplomatic personnel.
- Assistance to Afghan nationals in distress.
- Providing leadership – Neighbourhood First.
- International coordination and humanitarian efforts.
- UNSC Special Session chaired by India on Afghanistan.
- Upcoming UNHRC Session in Geneva.
- UN 1988 Sanctions Committee chaired by India.
Besides pre-emptive measures, the leaders were informed of immediate measures taken by India including setting up of 24*7 Special Afghanistan Cell established in MEA and e-visa system for Afghan nationals,
According to the MEA, 565 persons – 175 embassy personnel, 263 other Indian nationals, 112 Afghan nationals including Hindus and Sikhs, and 15 third country nationals were evacuated from Afghanistan so far.
The ministry apprised the floor on details of the 24×7 Special Afghan cell set up on August 16 to coordinate repatriation and other requests from Afghanistan in a streamlined manner. The helpline, manned by more than 20 MEA officials, has responded to 3004 calls, 7826 Whatsapp messages, 3101 emails.
The Government of India has also facilitated evacuation of Indians through other agencies. Some challenges faced included frequent firing incidents near airport and inside Kabul, multiple checkpoints by various groups, issues at the airport, and landing permission delays.
Overflight clearances from relevant countries and coordination on ground were also given as challenges faced by the MEA in evacuation.
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