Updated August 23rd, 2021 at 10:36 IST
India's evacuation efforts from Afghanistan continue, over 600 brought back so far
The MEA has assured that it's committed to facilitating a safe return of all Indian nationals. Here is a detailed account of India's evacuation efforts so far.
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After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, India has initiated mass evacuation operations to help bring back stranded Indian and Afghan nationals to the country. These operations have been intricately coordinated between the Indian Government and the Indian Air Force (IAF) in tandem with the Foreign Ministry's of Tajikistan and Qatar given the sensitive and volatile situation in the war-torn nation. Here is a detailed account of India's evacuation operations from Afghanistan so far.
Evacuation of Indian Embassy Officials
As the Taliban closed in on Kabul on August 15, an Air India flight took off from the Hamid Karzai airport with 129 passengers on board. This was the last commercial flight that operated directly between Kabul and New Delhi after the takeover of Afghanistan. Immediately after this, the prime focus of the Indian Government was to bring back stranded Embassy Officials.
#WATCH | "I can't believe the world abandoned #Afghanistan. Our friends are going to get killed. They (Taliban) are going to kill us. Our women are not going to have any more rights," says a woman who arrived in Delhi from Kabul pic.twitter.com/4mLiKFHApG
— ANI (@ANI)
On August 16, the IAF evacuated Indian embassy officials from Kabul and brought them back to the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad. 140 Indians, including the last of Indian embassy staff, ITBP personnel, 3 Embassy dogs and 4 media persons were on board a C-17 Globemaster. The MEA released a statement saying that all its Embassy personnel had been evacuated in the two flights and had reached safely back to India by August 17.
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.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar)
On August 18, PM Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to review the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. He also held a talk with the Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia over the phone for about 40 minutes. Efforts to repatriate Hindu and Sikh minorities from the country were also charted out. The MEA’s 24x7 Special Afghanistan Cell was reinforced.
IAF coordinate preparation from Kabul via Tajikistan
Thereafter, the IAF carried out a massive operation and evacuated 219 Afghan civilians which included a large number of members from the Sikh community stranded in Kabul. The IAF's C-17 Globemaster brought back the stranded civilians to the Hindan airbase. Another Indian Air Force C-130J transport aircraft took off from Kabul with over 85 Indians to Tajikistan on August 21. From here, an Air India flight helped bring back the citizens, and two Afghan lawmakers to India.
#WATCH | Afghanistan's MP Narender Singh Khalsa breaks down as he reaches India from Kabul.
— ANI (@ANI)
"I feel like crying...Everything that was built in the last 20 years is now finished. It's zero now," he says. pic.twitter.com/R4Cti5MCMv
Jubilant evacuees on their journey home ! pic.twitter.com/3sfvSaEVK7
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia)
The same day the MEA confirmed the evacuation of 168 people, including 107 Indian nationals stuck in Afghanistan. The evacuation was done by a special repatriation flight that reached the Hindon IAF base in Ghaziabad
#WATCH | An infant was among the 168 people evacuated from Afghanistan's Kabul to Ghaziabad on an Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft pic.twitter.com/DoR6ppHi4h
— ANI (@ANI)
"Situation was deteriorating in Afghanistan, so I came here with my daughter & two grandchildren. Our Indian brothers & sisters came to our rescue. They (Taliban) burnt down my house. I thank India for helping us," says an Afghan national at Hindon Air Force Station, Ghaziabad pic.twitter.com/Pmh1zqZZCB
— ANI (@ANI)
392 civilians evacuated via Tajikistan & Qatar
On August 22, 392 persons were airlifted from Kabul in an operation that covered Indian citizens as well as Afghan nationals, including Sikhs and Hindus. They were flown from Kabul to Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft. The passengers had been divided into three aircraft, including a heavy-lift C-1 and two Air India and Indigo flights via Tajikistan and Qatar.
Bringing Indians back from Afghanistan.
— India in Qatar (@IndEmbDoha)
2nd batch of 146 Indian national, who were evacuated from Afganistan to Doha, being repatriated today to India.
Thank everyone involved for their support. @MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar pic.twitter.com/9Jr5XnieB5
On August 23, the Indian Embassy in coordination with the US Embassy helped evacuate 146 people, largely Sikhs via Qatar. More IAF sorties have been planned for the evacuation of Indian as well as Afghan citizens in the coming days. The MEA has assured that the government is fully committed to facilitating a safe return of all Indian nationals from the Taliban-captured country.
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Published August 23rd, 2021 at 10:36 IST