News Analysis India

Tag: Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport

  • Small group of Indian officials coordinating evacuation missions at Kabul airport

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A small group of Indian officials is coordinating the country’s evacuation missions at the Kabul international airport amid continuing chaos and a challenging ground situation, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday, August 22, 2021.

    The multi-agency group has been coordinating with the American officials handling security at the airport as well as other relevant authorities, they said.

    India evacuated 200 people, including the Indian envoy and other staffers of its embassy in Kabul, in two C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft of the IAF by Tuesday in view of the deteriorating security situation in the Afghan capital city.

    ALSO READ: India brings back 392 people from Afghanistan including 2 Afghan lawmakers

    Kabul fell to the Taliban last Sunday.

    It is not immediately clear when the multi-agency team was deployed at the Kabul airport.

    On Monday last, the Ministry of External Affairs set up a special Afghanistan cell to coordinate repatriation of Indians and handle related matters.

    Sources said the cell received more than 2,000 phone calls and answered over 6,000 WhatsApp queries during the first five days of its operation.

    It replied to more than 1,200 e-mails during the period.

    India on Sunday brought back 392 people, including two Afghan lawmakers, in three different flights as part of its mission to evacuate Indians and Afghan partners from Kabul.

    A total of 168 people, including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were flown from Kabul to the Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

    Another group of 87 Indians and two Nepalese nationals was brought back in a special Air India flight from Dushanbe, a day after they were evacuated to the Tajikistan capital in an IAF 130J transport aircraft, officials said.

    Separately, 135 Indians, who were earlier evacuated from Kabul to Doha in the last few days by the US and NATO aircraft, were flown back from the Qatari capital city to Delhi in a special flight, they said.

    PTI MPB RC 08221853 NNNN

  • India committed to safe return of its nationals from Afghanistan, says Union Minister Scindia

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Indian government is committed to the safe returns of its nationals from Afghanistan, said Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, as an Air India flight with 87 Indians evacuees from Kabul landed here on Sunday, August 22, 2021, via Tajikistan.

    “From Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan @airindiain The aircraft reached New Delhi carrying 87 Indians. Under the guidance of strong-willed prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian government is committed to ensuring the safe return of Indian nationals,” Scindia tweeted.

    The flight ferrying 87 Indians from Afghanistan’s Kabul landed in Delhi early on Sunday. The Indians were taken to Tajikistan’s capital of Dushanbe from Kabul on board a transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday.

    ALSO READ: India brings back close to 400 people in three flights

    The minister also retweeted a video in which passengers being evacuated raised “Bharat Mata ki Jai” as the flight lifted off from Dushanbe airport.

    India has so far evacuated around 300 people from Afghanistan including its ambassador and all other diplomats.

    It has been evacuating its citizens along the Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and Qatar routes

    India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan, government sources told ANI.

    The permission was granted by American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15.

    People in Afghanistan have been rushing to leave the country after the Taliban seized control last week. On August 15, the country’s government fell soon after President Ashraf Ghani left the country.

    The MEA has said the government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan. The MEA said that the main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of the Kabul airport.