Central government has called an all-party meeting to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. At 11 a.m., the meeting will take place.
This comes after the government asked external affairs minister S Jaishankar to brief all political party floor leaders on Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover. Jaishankar will do so in person, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.
“Floor Leaders of Political Parties would be briefed by EAM @DrSJaishankar on the present situation in Afghanistan, on 26th August, 11 am in Main Committee Room, PHA, New Delhi. Invites are being sent through email. All concerned are requested to attend,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
The government’s briefing is expected to focus on its evacuation mission from Afghanistan as well as its assessment of the situation in the war-torn country following the Taliban’s takeover of almost all major Afghan towns and cities, including the capital Kabul.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has said that members of her party, the Trinamool Congress, will attend the meeting. Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), told that he had received an invitation to the meeting and would be attending.
More than 800 people have been returned to India from Afghanistan, where the Taliban swept to power two weeks before American forces withdrew. Since the Taliban took control on August 15, a number of flights have returned Indian nationals as well as members of the Afghan Sikh and Hindu communities.
On Thursday, a military plane carrying 180 people evacuated from Afghanistan is expected to arrive in India from Kabul. ‘Operation Devi Shakti’ is the name given to India’s evacuation mission.
The security at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai international airport has been handled by US central command personnel.
