Union Min Scindia backs India's commitment to safely evacuate Indians from Afghanistan

Following the Air India flight evacuating 87 Indian nationals from Kabul on Sunday, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia affirmed the nation's commitment to safely bring back Indian citizens from the terror-torn, landlocked country. A special Air India flight carrying 87 Indians from Kabul via Tajikistan landed in Delhi early on Sunday.

MEA shares visuals of evacuees 

The evacuees were carried to Dushanbe, the capital city of Tajikistan, from Kabul on a transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday for refuelling from where they were safely ferried to the national capital, Delhi. Indian government officials have been assisting in the evacuation of Indian citizens on the ground in Kabul. The Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi had shared visuals of the rescue operation.

"Indian government is committed to ensuring the safe return of Indian nationals"

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Scindia tweeted, "From Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan the aircraft reached New Delhi carrying 87 Indians. Under the guidance of strong-willed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian government is committed to ensuring the safe return of Indian nationals."

Indians rejoice as they return home 

Scindia, the Civil Aviation Minister also retweeted a video in which Indian nationals being evacuated were observed chanting "Bharat Mata ki Jai" as the flight lifted off from Dushanbe airport.

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

The Narendra Modi-led government has been successful in rescuing its citizens along the Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and Qatar air paths. Notably, India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals beached in Afghanistan. The permission for the same was granted by the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces which have been regulating proceedings at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban insurgency on August 15.

The Afghan fall and India's challenge to evacuate nationals 

In desperate scenes, people in Afghanistan have been observed hurrying to leave the country after the Taliban gained control over the Ashraf Ghani-led Afghanistan government last week, taking control of the landlocked nation. The country's government fell soon after President Ashraf Ghani left the country for Tajikistan on August 15.

The Ministry of External Affairs has maintained that the government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan. The Ministry also asserted that the pivotal challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, better known as Kabul airport.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Security to review the evacuation process of the Indians and the steps taken to ensure the safety of Sikhs and Hindus stranded in Afghanistan. Additionally, the Government has also opened E-visas for all Afghan nationals, irrespective of their religion.

(With inputs from ANI)