News Analysis India

Tag: Taliban in Afghanistan

  • ‘Anti-India, absurd’: Anurag Thakur on Mehbooba Mufti’s Taliban remarks

    By PTI

    HAMIRPUR: Union Minister Anurag Thakur has termed “anti-India” and “absurd” PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s statement referring to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan to call upon the Centre to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

    Addressing reporters here on Sunday night, he claimed the PDP and its allies have been upset since their exit from power and the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

    Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are on the path of development under the BJP regime, the Union information and broadcasting minister said.

    ALSO READ | Centre weaponising ED, NIA against those speaking the truth, says PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti

    Addressing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) workers in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday, Mehbooba asked the Centre to take a lesson out of Afghanistan where the Taliban seized power and made the US flee, and urged the government to hold dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir and return its special status.

    Referring to the Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan, the former chief minister warned the Centre “to not test us” and asked the government to “mend its ways, understand the situation, and see what is happening in your neighbourhood”.

    Thakur said Mehbooba’s statement is “anti-India” and “absurd”.

    He claimed the PDP and its allies have been upset since their exit from power and the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

    They should understand that whatever happened in the past will not be repeated.

    Both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are on the path of development and will continue to thrive under the BJP rule.

    They will become model states of India, he said.

    State BJP chief Suresh Kashyap, Rural Development Minister Virender Kanwar and Deputy chief whip of state government Kamlesh Kumari were also present at the press conference.

    ALSO WATCH:

    Thakur, who is also the minister for youth affairs and sports, said sports will be given priority under the New Education Policy and all modern facilities will be provided to the budding sportspersons of India.

    He said sports will be promoted across the country through ‘Khel Maha Kumbh’ and budding sportspersons will be picked out from there.

    Thakur said Himachal Pradesh will be developed as a modern hub of sports and will be known as ‘Khel Bhoomi’ (land of sports).

    He also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for improving health services and curbing the spread of coronavirus in the country.

    Thakur also thanked the people of Himachal Pradesh for giving him a rousing reception during his ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ in the state.

    He said that nearly 30,000 to 40,000 people blessed him during the yatra.

  • Centre to brief leaders of political parties on developments in Afghanistan

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The government will brief parliamentary leaders of various political parties on the developments in war-torn Afghanistan.

    External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi instructed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to brief the floor leaders of the political parties.

    “In view of developments in Afghanistan, PM @narendramodi has instructed that MEA brief Floor Leaders of political parties. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs @JoshiPralhad will be intimating further details,” Jaishankar tweeted.

    The government’s briefing is expected to focus on its evacuation mission from Afghanistan as well as its assessment of the situation in that country.

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

    In view of developments in Afghanistan, PM @narendramodi has instructed that MEA brief Floor Leaders of political parties.Minister of Parliamentary Affairs @JoshiPralhad will be intimating further details.
    — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) August 23, 2021
    As part of its evacuation mission from Afghanistan, India has already brought back around 730 people including members of the Afghan Sikh and Hindu communities.

    India on Monday brought back 146 of its nationals in four different flights from Qatar’s capital Doha, days after they were evacuated from Afghanistan by NATO and American aircraft in view of the deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country.

    ALSO WATCH:

    On Sunday, 392 people including two Afghan lawmakers were evacuated in three different flights under the evacuation mission The Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15.

    Within two days of the Taliban’s capture of Kabul, India had evacuated 200 people, including the Indian envoy and other staffers of its embassy in the Afghan capital.

    The first evacuation flight brought back over 40 people, mostly staffers at the Indian embassy, on August 16.

    The second aircraft evacuated around 150 people including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians from Kabul on August 17.

  • IAF flight evacuates over 85 Indians from Kabul amid Taliban crisis

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: In an effort to evacuate Indian nationals in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the capital city Kabul, an Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J transport aircraft took off from Kabul with over 85 Indians, informed official sources on Saturday.

    “An Indian Air Force C-130J transport aircraft took off from Kabul with over 85 Indians. The aircraft landed in Tajikistan for refuelling. Indian government officials are helping in evacuation of Indian citizens on the ground in Kabul,” sources told ANI.

    The government has been putting in coordinated efforts to bring back citizens safely.

    India had earlier also picked up its consulate staff from Kandahar after the town was about to be taken over by the Taliban terrorists. The Indian officials from the Kandahar consulate had later stationed themselves in the Kabul embassy and were overseeing work from there, the sources had said.

    ALSO READ | Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul for talks on setting up govt: Official

    After the capture of the capital Kabul earlier this week, the Indian Air Force operated two sorties of the C-17 Globemaster after getting clearance from the US forces at the airport there and brought back around 180 officials, ITBP staffers and a few journalists.

    The Indian Air Force has already evacuated about 180 Indian passengers.

    Afghanistan government collapsed on August 15 with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country and the Taliban’s entry into the capital, as per media reports.

    Taliban leaders have been discussing future government plans in Doha after gaining control of Kabul and seizing the presidential palace in Afghanistan’s capital, as per a media report.

    Panic gripped the Afghan capital as people fear about a return to the Taliban’s brutal rule and the threat of reprisal killings. Several people have been desperately attempting to flee to the country on Monday flooded the Kabul airport and clinged around a departing US military plane.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • India ‘very carefully’ following developments in Afghanistan: EAM Jaishankar

    By PTI

    UNITED NATIONS: With the Taliban now in control in Kabul, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said New Delhi is ‘very carefully’ following the developments in Afghanistan and India’s focus is on ensuring the security and safe return of Indian nationals still in the war-torn country.

    Jaishankar, addressing reporters at the UN Security Council stakeout after chairing an open-debate on peacekeeping under India’s current UNSC Presidency, said “that (situation in Afghanistan) is really what has been very much the focus of my own engagements here, talking to the UN Secretary General and other colleagues who are here as well as the US Secretary of State.”

    “At the moment we are, like everybody else, very carefully following developments in Afghanistan. I think our focus is on ensuring the security in Afghanistan and the safe return of Indian nationals who are there,” he said.

    ALSO READ | UN peacekeeping missions continue to operate in challenging settings involving terrorists: Jaishankar at UNSC

    Jaishankar has discussed the situation in Afghanistan in his bilateral meetings here, including with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

    He arrived in New York on Monday as the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, the second time in just over the 10 days that the powerful UN body met under India’s Presidency for the month of August to discuss the situation in the war-torn country.

    India on Tuesday rushed back home its ambassador Tandon and staff from the embassy in Kabul in a military transport aircraft following escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital after the Taliban insurgents seized the Afghan capital on Sunday.

    ALSO WATCH:The C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force carrying around 150 people, including diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians, landed at the Hindon airbase near the national capital at around 5 PM after a brief halt at Jamnagar in Gujarat, in the wake of escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital after its take over by the Taliban two days back.

  • Getting out Indian envoy, mission staff from Afghan was ‘difficult, complicated’: Jaishankar says in US

    By PTI

    NEW YORK: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the movement of the Indian Ambassador and the Embassy staff from war-torn Afghanistan to India was a “difficult and complicated exercise” as he thanked those who cooperated and facilitated the efforts.

    Jaishankar, who is in the US on a four-day visit to attend a number of UN Security Council events, including a briefing on terrorism that will be held under India’s presidency of the powerful body, took to Twitter to share details about New Delhi’s efforts to get Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon and the Embassy staff out from Kabul.

    “Movement of the Indian Ambassador and the Embassy staff from Kabul to India was a difficult and complicated exercise. Thank all those whose cooperation and facilitation made it possible,” he said in a tweet.

    ​ALSO READ | Have not abandoned people of Afghanistan: Indian envoy Rudrendra Tandon

    Jaishankar’s visit to New York is taking place in the backdrop of the Taliban’s rapid onslaught in Afghanistan and the issue is likely to figure in his talks with UN officials.

    The C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the Indian Air Force carrying around 150 people, including diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians, landed at the Hindon airbase near the national capital at around 5 PM after a brief halt at Jamnagar in Gujarat, in the wake of escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital after its take over by the Taliban two days back.

    It is the second evacuation flight as another C-17 aircraft brought back around 40 people from the Hamid Karzai International (HKI) Airport in Kabul on Monday as part of India’s emergency evacuation mission that was carried out following coordination with relevant authorities including US officials handling security at the airport in the Afghan capital.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • India closely monitoring situation in Afghanistan; gearing up to evacuate staff from Kabul

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India is gearing up to evacuate hundreds of its officials and citizens from Kabul after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan, setting the stage for the Taliban to recapture power in the country two decades after a US-led military invasion ousted it in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

    Afghan media reported that Ghani and his close aides have left the country with the Taliban on the brink of seizing control of Kabul after taking over almost all leading cities and provincial capitals.

    As Afghanistan stares at an uncertain future with the imminent fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban, several countries including the US and the UK scrambled to evacuate their staff from the city that has been gripped by fear and panic.

    People tracking developments in Afghanistan said India has prepared all contingencies and eventualities including evacuating its staff in its embassy in Kabul as well as Indian citizens stranded in the country.

    It is learnt that a fleet of C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force is kept on standby to undertake evacuation missions.

    ALSO READ | Scrambling Afghan forces, Taliban enter Kabul, await ‘peaceful transfer of power’

    The people cited above said India will not put the lives of its staffers at the embassy and its citizens in Kabul at any risk and plans have already been finalised in case they require emergency evacuation.

    “The government is closely monitoring fast-paced developments in Afghanistan. We will not put the lives of our staff at the Indian Embassy in Kabul at any risk,” said a source.

    However, there is no official comment from India on the fast-paced developments in Afghanistan.

    In the last few days, the Taliban fighters have swept through most parts of the country, seizing control of around 25 of 34 provincial capitals including cities such as Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad.

    Afghan media quoted acting defence minister Bismillah Mohammadi as saying that President Ghani handed the authority of solving the “crisis” in the country to political leaders.

    Mohammadi said that a delegation will travel to Doha on Monday for talks on the country’s situation.

    Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, appeared to criticise Ghani for leaving the country and said “God will hold him accountable and the nation will also judge.”

    Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai said on Twitter that a coordinating council comprising himself, Abdullah Abdullah and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been formed for transfer of power following President Ghani’s departure.

    Earlier in the day, the Afghan Presidential Palace said on Twitter that the situation was under control in Kabul and it has not been attacked, though there were instances of sporadic gunshots.

    It said Afghan security forces were working with international partners to ensure the security of Kabul.

    “Kabul has not been attacked. The country’s security and defence forces are working together with international partners to ensure the security of the city and the situation is under control,” the statement in Pashto said.

    ALSO READ | President Biden deploys additional 1,000 US troops to aid Afghanistan departures

    Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the Taliban’s onslaught and the imminent fall of Kabul as “heart-wrenching stuff”.

    “We went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission, and that mission was to deal with the folks who attacked us on 9/11. And we have succeeded in that mission,” Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union” programme.

    “The objective that we set, bringing those who attacked us to justice, making sure that they couldn’t attack us again from Afghanistan – we’ve succeeded in that mission, and in fact, we succeeded a while ago,” he said.

    “And at the same time, remaining in Afghanistan for another one, five, ten years is not in the national interest,” he added.

    The Taliban made rapid advances across Afghanistan by resorting to widespread violence since the United States began withdrawing its troops from the country on May 1.

  • India has contingency plans: Govt sources on evacuation of staff from Kabul embassy amid Taliban fear

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India has put in place contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of its officials and citizens from Kabul that has been gripped by fear and panic following reports of Taliban fighters entering the outskirts of the Afghan capital city on Sunday.

    People familiar with the development said the government will not put the lives of its staffers at the Indian embassy and Indian citizens in Kabul at any risk and plans have already been finalised in case they require emergency evacuation.

    “The government is closely monitoring the fast-paced developments in Afghanistan. We will not put the lives of our staff at the Indian embassy in Kabul at any risk,” said one of the persons cited above.

    Specifically asked when the Indian staffers and citizens in Kabul will be evacuated, they said decisions will depend on the ground situation.

    ALSO READ | Scrambling Afghan forces, Taliban enter Kabul, await ‘peaceful transfer of power’

    It is learnt that a fleet of the C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force is kept on standby to undertake evacuation missions.

    According to reports from Kabul, Taliban fighters have entered the outskirts of the city, triggering panic and fear among the residents.

    In the last few days, the Taliban fighters have swept through most parts of Afghanistan, seizing control of around 25 of the 34 provincial capitals, including cities such as Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad.

    The Afghan Presidential Palace said on Twitter that the situation is under control in Kabul and it has not been attacked, though there were instances of sporadic gunshots.

    It said the Afghan security forces are working with their international partners to ensure the security of Kabul.

    ALSO READ | President Biden deploys additional 1,000 US troops to aid Afghanistan departures

    “Kabul has not been attacked. The country’s security and defence forces are working together with international partners to ensure the security of the city and the situation is under control,” the statement in Pashto said.

    Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had a telephone conversation with security officials regarding the security of the citizens in Kabul, it said.

    The BBC reported from Kabul, quoting the country’s acting interior minister, that a peaceful transfer of power to the transitional government is being prepared.

    As the situation deteriorated in Kabul, the United States and the embassies of several other countries began evacuating their staff from the Afghan city.

  • Make immediate plans for return: India’s advice to its citizens in Afghan in view of escalating violence

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday strongly advised all its citizens residing in Afghanistan to make immediate travel arrangements to return home before commercial air services are discontinued from the country in view of massive spike in violence.

    In a fresh advisory, the Indian embassy in Kabul also advised the Indian companies operating in Afghanistan to immediately withdraw their Indian employees out of project sites before air travel services from the country is discontinued.

    The embassy asked Indian nationals working for Afghan or foreign companies in Afghanistan to immediately request their employers to facilitate their travel from project sites to India in view of the ground situation.

    ALSO READ | India evacuating staff from consulate in Afghanistan’s Mazar-e-Sharif amid Taliban violence

    It said the security advisory issued on June 29 and July 24 remained valid.

    “Further, as violence in many parts of Afghanistan has escalated, commercial air travel services to many provinces and cities are getting discontinued,” the embassy said.

    “All Indian nationals visiting, staying and working in Afghanistan are strongly advised to keep themselves updated on the availability of commercial flights from various parts of Afghanistan and make immediate travel arrangements to return to India before commercial air services are discontinued to their place of stay/visit in Afghanistan,” it added.

    According to government data, around 1,500 Indians are currently staying in Afghanistan.

    ALSO READ | Thousands flee as Taliban eye full control of northern Afghanistan

    “Indian companies operating in Afghanistan are strongly advised to immediately withdraw their Indian employees out of project sites in Afghanistan before air travel services get discontinued,” the embassy said.

    “Indian nationals working for Afghan or foreign companies in Afghanistan should immediately request their employer to facilitate their travel from project sites to India,” it said.

    The embassy said the advisory is applicable for Indian journalists who are in Afghanistan to cover the latest development.

    “It is very essential that all Indian media persons arriving/staying in Afghanistan to establish contact with Public Affairs and Security Wing of the Embassy for a personalized briefing, including specific advice for the location they are traveling to,” it said.