Indian Envoy, Diplomats In Kabul Brought Back To Safety From Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan
Two days after the Afghan Taliban took over the regime in Afghanistan, India has brought back its ambassador and around 120 of the staff members from Kabul. The evacuation flight that took off at around 7 in the morning landed in Gujarat's Jamnagar.
Two days after the Afghan Taliban took over the regime in Afghanistan, India has brought back its ambassador and around 120 of the staff members from Kabul.
The evacuation flight that took off at around 7 in the morning landed in Gujarat's Jamnagar.
Latest pictures from inside @IAF_MCC 's C-17 Globemaster Aircraft which will soon land with approx 140 people including embassy staff and other #Indian nationals from #Afganistan. pic.twitter.com/3X7d0utoQU
¡ª Hey_nalanda (@HeyNalanda) August 17, 2021
They were evacuated on Tuesday from Kabul by a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft of the IAF as part of an emergency evacuation because of the prevailing situation in the Afghan capital.
The evacuees include Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Ronendra Tandon, embassy's staff, their family members and the journalists, who went to cover the war.
C-17 #Globemaster landed in #jamnagar with more than 140 indians from #Kabul #Afghanistan #Afganistan #AfganistanBurning #Afghan_lives_matter #AfganistanWomen #Kabul #kabulairport #KabulHasFallen #KabulFalls #TalibanTakeover #Talibans #Taliban #????????????? pic.twitter.com/p1jxbxgqC7
¡ª Riddhi Rughani (NEWS 18 GUJARATI) (@RughaniRiddhi) August 17, 2021
On Sunday, the C-17 Globemaster aircraft had evacuated around 180 Indians.
Another Air India flight AI244 that carried 129 passengers had also arrived in Delhi from Kabul.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that it was decided that the ambassador and his Indian staff will move to India immediately in view of the prevailing circumstances.
"In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately," Bagchi tweeted.
An Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft brought back some personnel from Afghanistan on Monday and Tuesday's flight is the second evacuation flight.
Indian staffers at the embassy are being brought back on board the second evacuation flight.
India had flown an evacuation flight on Sunday as well.
Reuters
But an Air India flight that was to depart Kabul on Monday morning was delayed and later canceled due to the chaos in the airport and closure of the Afghan airspace.
Monitoring situation carefully
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India is monitoring the situation in Kabul continuously.
"Monitoring the situation in Kabul continuously. Understand the anxiety of those seeking to return to India. Airport operations are the main challenge. Discussions on with partners in that regard," he tweeted earlier.
He said the government is in constant touch with the Sikh and Hindu community leaders in Kabul, adding their welfare will get its priority attention.
AFP
"Given the Kabul situation, important we have accurate information about Indians there. Urge that this be provided by all concerned to the MEA Special Afghanistan Cell," he said.
The contact details of the Cell are: phone number: +919717785379, Email: "MEAHelpdeskIndia@gmail.com, Jaishankar said.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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