Afghanistan crisis: PM Modi chairs meet as India evacuates embassy staff

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security against the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The Cabinet Committee on Security is the apex government body that deals with the issues of national security.

Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the meeting, besides senior officials. While official sources confirmed the meeting, but there was no word on what transpired there.

Sources said those present in the meeting also included National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, as also India's Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, who returned to India on Tuesday itself.

India on Tuesday rushed back home its ambassador and staff from the embassy in Kabul in a military transport aircraft in the wake of escalating tension, fear and uncertainty gripping the Afghan capital. 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.

It is the second evacuation flight as another C-17 aircraft brought back around 40 people from the Hamid Karzai International 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.

It is the second time India evacuated all its staff from the embassy in Kabul after a similar exercise was carried out in 1996 when the Taliban first captured power.

Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon told media persons in Jamnagar that the situation in Kabul is complex and "quite fluid" now, and the remaining Indians stuck in the city will be brought back home when the commercial flight services resume.

"Happy to be back home safely and securely. We are a very large mission. We are a mission of 192 personnel who were evacuated from Afghanistan literally within a period of three days in a very orderly fashion in two phases," he said.

Tandon, who assumed charge as Indian ambassador in Afghanistan in August last year, said the embassy provided assistance and even shelter to many distressed Indians following the fast-changing situation in Kabul.

"We are continuously monitoring the situation because there are still some Indian citizens who are there. That is why Air India will continue to run its commercial services to Kabul as long as the airport in Kabul functions," Tandon said.

Tandon said India will remain in contact with the Afghan people and will continue to work for their welfare.

Asked about the stranded Indians, he said the embassy extended help to many of them. The people who have returned on board the aircraft included two Delhi-based journalists who had gone to Afghanistan to cover the unfolding developments after the Taliban began capturing key provincial capitals.

‘Evacuation was complicated exercise’

The evacuation of the Indian embassy staff from Kabul was a "difficult and complicated" exercise, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

While Jaishankar spoke to his American counterpart Antony Blinken, NSA Ajit Doval had a conversation with President Joe Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday evening on the evacuation of the Indian staff, people familiar with the matter said.

In a tweet, Jaishankar, who is in New York on a four-day visit, said he thanked his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian for evacuating 21 Indian nationals from Kabul to Paris. It is learnt that both Jaishankar and Doval were involved in ensuring the evacuation of around 190 Indian diplomats, officials and security personnel from the embassy in Kabul.

Emergency e-visa for Afghans 

India on Tuesday announced that it will issue an emergency e-visa to Afghan nationals who want to come to the country in view of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there. All Afghans, irrespective of their religion, can apply for the 'e-Emergency X-Misc Visa' online and applications will be processed in New Delhi.

“The MHA reviews visa provisions in view of the current situation in Afghanistan. A new category of electronic visa called ‘e-Emergency X-Misc Visa’ introduced to fast-track visa applications for entry into India," a home ministry spokesperson said.

The visa will initially be valid for six months, they said.