New Delhi: India on Thursday said that its mission in Kabul is in touch with the Afghan Hindu and Sikh community members and will ensure that they get all necessary assistance. Dismissing speculative reports on closure of the Indian embassy in Kabul, the government requested Indian nationals in Afghanistan to look at ways to come back while commercial fights are still on.
The External Affairs Ministry also clarified at the weekly briefing that there is no formal evacuation mechanism.
“Our mission in Kabul issued an advisory for Indian nationals earlier this week to leave Afghanistan back for India via commercial means. There is no formal evacuation mechanism. Separately, Mazar-e- Sharif, our consulate there- have withdrawn all India based personnel there earlier this week because of the security situation. This is a temporary measure and our consulate there continues to be operational with local staff. We want to preserve the gains of the last two decades particularly related to minorities and women. Last year, our mission in Kabul had facilitated the return of more than 383 members of the Hindu and Sikh community from Afghanistan to India,’’ said MEA Official Spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi.
Stating India’s position in response to several questions on Afghanistan, the MEA Official Spokesperson said, “India remains hopeful of an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire. We are concerned about the deteriorating security situation.''
Bagchi said that the security situation is of concern and is evolving rapidly. “We are supporting all peace initiatives in Afghanistan. We are committed to the long term development of Afghanistan. We would like to see a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.”
We hope that all stakeholders can find a peace process takes this forward and our conversation with all our partners is geared towards this objective. Our Joint Secretary looking after Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran is participating in a meeting underway in Doha today. That meeting will include several important stakeholders from Afghanistan and will discuss the support of the international community.’’
He said that in order to accomplish peace, it is important that Afghanistan is free of malign influences. He said that the the world is well aware of the role of terrorist elements from Pakistan in Afghanistan
Replying to a question on the safety of Indian projects in Afghanistan, Bagchi said, “It is wrong to term them as Indian projects. These were projects done with Indian assistance and support but they are projects of the government and people of Afghanistan. Once we hand them over, we no longer claim that they are ours. Of course, these are very useful and important for the development of the people of Afghanistan and we certainly hope that they will not get damaged and will continue to provide benefit.’’
(The writer worked with The Asahi Shimbun as diplomatic correspondent)
