India’s ambassador and diplomatic staff left Kabul on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level meeting during which he directed officials to ensure that all Indian nationals are safely evacuated from the war-torn country.
On Tuesday, 150 people, including India’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Rudrendra Tandon, were flown back from Kabul on a C-17 Globemaster heavy lift aircraft, a day after 45 diplomats and security personnel were flown in similarly as part of an extensive evacuation programme kept under wraps and put in motion after the Indian side received credible inputs about possible terrorism.
According to officials familiar with the discussions, PM Modi called a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and issued orders to ensure that all Indian nationals are safely returned and that India is able to provide assistance to Afghan citizens who require it.
“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 earlier in the day.
To avoid flying over Pakistan or spending too much time in uncontrolled Afghan airspace, India sent two C-17s, which flew into Kabul via a circuitous route through Iranian airspace and over the Arabian Sea. Because the Kabul airport is small and the aircraft were only given short-term slots, the C-17s stayed in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, until it was time to fly into Kabul, according to people familiar with the situation.
On Tuesday afternoon, the second of these flights arrived in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The ambassador’s and other staff’s departure from Kabul reflected India’s reservations about the Taliban’s assurances that all embassies and diplomats would be safe. On Monday night, Taliban spokesman Suhail Saheen tweeted that no problems would be created for diplomats, embassies, or humanitarian workers, but this did not reassure the Indian side.
Tandon, who began his assignment in Kabul only in August of last year, told reporters at the Jamnagar airbase, where the C-17 jet paused for refuelling, that some Indian citizens remained in Afghanistan and that Air India would continue to operate flights from Kabul as long as the airport there remained operational to bring them back.
