The ministry of external affairs on Tuesday announced that the Indian ambassador in Afghanistan and his Indian staff were moving to India immediately, given the situation in the war-torn country.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on Tuesday morning, "In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately."
News agency ANI reported that the Indian Air Force sent a C-17 transport aircraft to Kabul, which had left the Afghan capital with officials on Tuesday. "Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft has taken off from Kabul with more than 120 Indian officials in it. The staff was brought inside the secure areas of the airport safely, late last evening," ANI reported. According to reports, Indian ambassador Rudrendra Tandon was on board the C-17.
The Hindu reported that an Indian Air Force C-17 had flown to Kabul on Sunday night and returned the next day with 40 Indian nationals.
On Monday, commercial flights from the Kabul airport were suspended, prompting concerns over the evacuation of Indians still in the country. Early on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar tweeted that he had spoken with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of the need to restart airport operations in Kabul. Jaishankar tweeted, "Discussed latest developments in Afghanistan with
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@SecBlinken. Underlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul. Deeply appreciate the American efforts underway in this regard."
The MEA had announced on Monday that it was in touch with representatives of the Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan. “We will facilitate repatriation to India of those who wish to leave Afghanistan. There are also a number of Afghans who have been our partners in the promotion of our mutual developmental, educational and people-to-people endeavours. We will stand by them,” Bagchi said.
