By PTI
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security against the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
The Cabinet Committee on Security is the apex government body that deals with the issues of national security.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the meeting, besides senior officials.
While official sources confirmed the meeting, but there was no word on what transpired there.
Sources said those present in the meeting also included National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, as also India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, who returned to India on Tuesday itself.
WATCH | TIMELINE: Key dates in Afghanistan since Taliban’s exit in 2001:
India has brought back the Indian ambassador and all staff members from its embassy in Kabul in two military transport aircraft in the wake of escalating tension and deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital after its takeover by the Taliban.
A military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force brought back from Kabul around 150 people including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians on Tuesday.
Another flight had evacuated around 40 staffers from Kabul on Monday.
Earlier on Tuesday, the MEA said that the immediate priority for the government is to obtain accurate information about all Indian nationals currently staying in Afghanistan.
India on Tuesday said the evacuation of its embassy staff from Kabul has been completed and the focus now would be to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from the Afghan capital in view of the prevailing situation in the country.
India has brought back the Indian ambassador and all staff members from its embassy in Kabul in two military transport aircraft in the wake of escalating tension and deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital after its takeover by the Taliban.
In a tweet, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the movement from Kabul to India was a “difficult and complicated” exercise and thanked all those whose cooperation and facilitation made it possible.
“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 this afternoon,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
The statement by the MEA came soon after a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force brought back from Kabul around 150 people including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians.
Another flight evacuated around 40 staffers from Kabul on Monday.
The MEA said the immediate priority for the government is to obtain accurate information about all Indian nationals currently staying in Afghanistan.
It also requested the Indians as well as their employers to urgently share the relevant details with MEA’s Special Afghanistan Cell that has been set up to coordinate evacuation.
“The main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of Kabul airport. This has been discussed at high levels with our partners, including by the External Affairs Minister with the US Secretary of State,” the MEA said.
“Government of India is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals and will institute flight arrangements once Kabul airport is open for commercial operations,” it said.
A contingent of 99 ITBP commandos along with three sniffer dogs landed at the Hindon IAF base on Tuesday onboard a military evacuation flight from Taliban-captured Afghanistan, officials said.
The commandos also brought back their personal weapons and belongings and will now undergo a week-long COVID-19 quarantine at a Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) facility in Delhi, they said.
“With this, our complete contingent deployed for securing the Embassy in Kabul, its four consulates in Afghanistan and diplomats have returned. The commandos came along with the Embassy staffers along with other Indian nationals,” ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.
The commandos were taken away in brown-coloured ITBP buses from the Hindon airbase to the quarantine facility.
A senior officer said the commandos also carried along their personal AK series assault weapons, bullet-proof jackets, helmets, communication gadgets, ammunition and three sniffer dogs.
Thirty diplomats including Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, 99 ITBP commandos and 21 civilians were onboard the C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that took off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul this morning and made a halt at the Jamnagar airforce base before touching down at Hindon in Ghaziabad near here in the evening, he said.
There were four journalists among the 21 civilians, he said.
The ITBP had deployed over 300 commandos for security duties in Afghanistan.
The force was first deployed to secure the premises of the Kabul Embassy, diplomats and staffers in November, 2002.
It later sent its additional detachments to similarly guard Indian consulates located in Jalalabad, Kandhar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.
The detachments from the consulates have already been withdrawn after they were shut recently due to the current crisis in the country and also due to negligible footfall as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the globe.
The ITBP also was deployed to secure the Delaram-Zaranj road project that was executed by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) between 2005-08.
A number of ITBP commandos were also killed in various terrorist attacks that took place during these duties and many of them were decorated with gallantry medals.