Tag: Kabul Crisis

By PTI

NEW DELHI: With Pakistan’s intelligence chief dashing to Afghanistan amidst efforts by the Taliban to finalise a government, former Indian diplomats on Sunday said the situation in the war-torn country was still in a “flux” and India has no other option but to wait and watch, while avoiding any “knee-jerk reaction”.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed rushed to Kabul on an unannounced visit.

Hameed’s visit to Afghanistan comes as pressure is mounting on the Taliban to form an inclusive government acceptable to the international community.

Anil Wadhwa, who served as Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs before retiring in 2017, said India should avoid any knee-jerk reaction to the developments in Afghanistan and follow a wait and watch policy.

“India should avoid a knee-jerk reaction because it remains to be seen what kind of government is formed by the Taliban, whether it is an inclusive government or not.

No knee jerk reaction (India should), just wait and see how the situation emerges,” Wadhwa told PTI.

On the ISI chief’s visit to Kabul, he said the influence of the ISI on the Taliban, especially the Haqqanis, is well known and so they would like to have that influence in the new government.

Asked if India should spell out its expectations from the new government, Wadhwa said this needs to be conveyed whenever there is an engagement with the Taliban representatives in Doha.

He added that India, in all likelihood, has already conveyed to the Talibani side that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-India activities.

T C A Raghavan, who was India’s High Commissioner to Pakistan from June 2013-December 2015, also echoed similar views and said the situation in Afghanistan was still in a flux and India should adopt a wait and watch approach.

“In my view the situation in Afghanistan is still in a flux, so we should not end up in a situation where we are commenting on our own analysis.

Because the Pakistan ISI chief is there, it is easy to start commenting on our own impression that he is forming the government,” he told PTI.

“Situation (in Afghanistan) is in a flux and we should await developments. The fact that Pakistanis have a certain position in Afghanistan today is undeniable,” Raghavan said.

Asked if India should spell out its expectations of a government in Afghanistan and set out its preconditions for recognising the regime there, he said, “I don’t think we are at a stage where we make our objectives into preconditions.”

Rakesh Sood, a former Ambassador of India to Afghanistan, said, “I think we have no choice but to wait and watch. I don’t think we have any other option.”

“The situation may be in a flux but I don’t think India is that significant. If the DG ISI has to go there to sort out matters, it is quite clear as to what the situation is. He has not gone there to exchange views about the weather,” Sood said.

G Parthasarathy, who has been India’s envoy in several countries including Pakistan, said India should not rush into anything and avoid any knee-jerk reaction to the developments in Afghanistan.

“Having dealt with Pakistan and lived there for seven years, I would have been surprised if the Pakistanis did not do what they were doing. It is only sections of Indians that are taken for a ride about Pakistan,” he said in reference to the ISI chief’s visit.

Cautioning against the China-Pakistan alliance, Parthasarathy said, “We will go wrong as long as we underestimate the dangers posed by the China-Pakistan alliance. Pakistan by itself is no threat, it becomes problematic when it acts in alliance with China.”

On what should be India’s approach, the former diplomat told PTI that India should not rush into anything, take time and see the direction in which things are moving as Afghanistan’s internal politics will shape the developments.

“There are groups like the Haqqani network which are agents of the ISI because the Haqqani family lives in Pakistan. Let us see how it plays out. No need for us to rush into anything. The sensible Afghans have told us that they appreciate Indian assistance,” he said, adding that India has done the right thing till now.

K C Singh, who has served as India’s envoy to the UAE and Iran, said the fact that the formation of the Taliban government has been delayed indicates a struggle between the more moderate elements led by Mullah Barader and the Haqqanis fronting for Pakistan and its army.

“Most countries are waiting and watching but also exerting pressure on the Taliban. India should take up a public position on what kind of inclusive government it expects, pending which it would not recognise the Taliban government,” he told PTI.

ISI DG Hameed’s visit to Afghanistan is the first high-level visit of any Pakistani official to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over of Kabul on August 15.

Since then, the Taliban have been trying to form a government but so far have held back the announcement.

The Taliban had postponed the formation of a new government in Afghanistan for this week, as the insurgent group struggles to give shape to a broad-based and inclusive administration acceptable to the international community.

By PTI

KOLKATA: When the New Delhi-bound Kam Airlines flight finally took off from Kabul airport hours before the Taliban entered the city on August 15, Subrata, an Indian working in a senior position of an International NGO (INGO) posted in Afghanistan, sent up a silent prayer of thanks.

Subrata had been able to board the flight after travelling two hours in his car to travel the 12 km distance between his lodging and the Hamid Karzai International Airport as the road was clogged with vehicles even early in the morning.

To top it all, his flight was stopped from taking off for over an hour almost at the edge of the runway, as US Air Force planes were landing to evacuate nationals of that country, sparking fears of imminent Taliban entry into the city.

Hours earlier, Subrata, who prefers to go by his first name, spent a tense and sleepless night planning his disguise to make it to the airport without any trouble.

“I contemplated travelling to the airport dressed as an Afghan sporting the customary long beard and turban or a deaf and mute person.

I was afraid that I might be held by the Taliban in the check posts they might have put up on the road,” he told PTI over the phone from Delhi.

Subrata even tried out his disguises before discarding each of them and deciding to travel in his normal clothes.

There were Indians, Europeans and Africans besides people from Afghanistan in the plane who were leaving the strife-torn picturesque country.

Afghan stewards of the plane, however, were sceptical about their return.

“I heard a steward whispering in Pashto: God knows how and when we will return to Kabul’,” said Subrata.

On the night before he took the flight, Subrata realised that guns alone cannot ensure security and information is the strongest defence.

“I had no information that night whether the Taliban had already entered the city. Nobody goes out in the night for fear of being attacked and killed. And there were looters.”

“I left my lodging at dawn to travel the 12 km distance to the airport and reached it at around 6.15 am. The flight was scheduled to depart at 10.45 am,” Subrata, who had been posted in Afghanistan since 2015, said.

He had advanced his flight ticket to Delhi, where his family stays, after the security officer of his organisation told him that the Taliban were expected to enter Kabul soon and he should “just leave”.

Subrata had been hesitating as he, like many of his counterparts in other INGOs, was sure that Kabul will not fall before Muharram on August 20.

It turned out later that his was the second last commercial flight to leave Afghanistan for India.

“The situation in Kabul had become tense since August 13 as the Taliban had captured Herat, Kandahar, Kunduz and other provinces one by one by then. I think even the Taliban themselves did not expect that these provinces would fall so fast,” said Subrata, who has been posted in that country since 2015.

With the memory of Taliban torture during its rule two decades ago still fresh in their mind, the people of Afghanistan had been living in fear since the US peace deal with the group in Doha in February 2020.

The pact had drawn up plans for withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees from the terrorist outfit.

Subrata said that many Afghan people, both men and women – had requested him to help them find refuge in Delhi.

“I did not want to return home before August 18 as I had reached Kabul only a week back and had a lot of work left. But the scenario was changing fast. I was told that banks had downed shutters saying they had no money left,” he said.

Rumours that fresh passports were not being issued anymore fanned the fear among the people manifold.

Subrata could not contact the Indian embassy and to add to his fears, he was told that there were blasts at Pul-e-charkhi jail in Kabul, which is the largest prison in Afghanistan, allegedly to liberate jailed members of the Taliban.

“I saw the narrow streets of Kabul chock-a-block with cars of internally displaced people who had come with their families to the city from neighbouring areas thinking it would not fall. The parks were occupied by these hapless people who had nowhere else to go,” he said.

They had been coming for the past one month but the situation had turned chaotic on August 14 as the roads were completely blocked, he said.

Subrata also recounted his conversation with a kiosk owner at the airport from whom he used to buy biscuits and cakes during his frequent travels.

“The man looked very sad. He told me: ‘Please remember that Afghanistan is a beautiful country but has no luck as far as lasting peace is concerned’,” Subrata said.

There was an air of desperation, a feeling of helplessness, arising out of the fear of an uncertain future.

“People are tired of the constant insecurity and want to leave the country. Their agony is increased manifold by the frequent attacks of armed looters who find them easy prey and do not hesitate to kill if faced with resistance,” he said.

The losses due to the unprecedented drought and the havoc wreaked by COVID-19 appear to have taken a back seat in the mind of the people of Afghanistan, Subrata said.

Most of them wish to relocate to either the US or India as they perceive these countries as peaceful and stable, he said.

Asked whether he would like to return to Afghanistan, Subrata said he would, as there is a lot of work left to be done.

“The INGOs are into the development work in the country in a big way. They are building roads, bridges, hospitals which the government cannot,” he said.

By PTI

NEW DELHI: In line with its historical ties with Afghan people, India will prioritise granting visas to civil society members, opinion makers, women activists, students and NGO workers from Afghanistan in view of the current situation in the country, people familiar with the development said on Friday.

Afghan people feeling threatened or facing the fear of persecution and those who supported India in rolling out various welfare and development projects will also be given priority for grant of visas, they said.

However, they said the government’s immediate priority is to evacuate the stranded Indians from Kabul and arrangements are being made in coordination with the US and other partner countries to bring them home.

It is learnt that all back-up plans have been put into place to facilitate their return at the earliest.

Amid fears of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, a number of countries such as the UK, Canada, have already announced resettlement schemes for Afghan refugees while several others have agreed on providing temporary shelter to them.

Two days after Kabul fell to the Taliban, India on Tuesday introduced a new category of electronic visas called “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” to facilitate the grant of visas to Afghan nationals after reviewing the situation in the conflict-ridden country.

The people cited above said India will continue to stand by those Afghan people who have supported India in various ways.

Following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, thousands of people rushed to the airport in the Afghan capital in a desperate attempt to flee the country fearing the Taliban’s brutality.

“We have a historical relationship with the Afghan people and I think that relationship will continue to guide our thoughts and outlook,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in New York on Thursday.

India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan and it has invested nearly USD 3 billion in carrying out nearly 500 projects across Afghanistan.

The people said another priority for the government has been to facilitate the evacuation of the members of the Hindu and Sikh minorities from Afghanistan.

The majority of the people from the Sikh community in Afghanistan possess long-term Indian visas.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday set up a round-the-clock special cell set to keeping track of stranded Indians in Afghanistan, ascertaining assistance being sought and advising a further course of action.

The Taliban swept across Afghanistan this month, seizing control of almost all key towns and cities including Kabul in the backdrop of the withdrawal of the US forces.

Kabul fell to the Taliban on Sunday.

By Tuesday, India completed the evacuation of all its diplomats and other staff members from the Afghan capital under a difficult and complicated exercise, effectively closing its mission for the second time since 1996 when the militant outfit captured power.

The mission to evacuate close to 200 people including the Indian envoy and other staffers in two military aircraft was accomplished with support from the US.

Following the evacuation, the MEA said the focus now would be to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from the Afghan capital.

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 the special Afghanistan cell.