Afghanistan crisis
Will facilitate repatriation of Afghan Hindus, Sikhs to India: Govt
New Delhi/IBNS: As panic stricken Afghans are gathering at the Kabul airport to leave the war-torn country, the Indian government on Monday said Hindus and Sikhs will be given priority once commercial flight service begins from Afghanistan's capital city.
The Centre said it would "facilitate repatriation to India of those who wish to leave Afghanistan".
"The government will take all steps to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals and our interests in Afghanistan," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters.
Speaking about the "deteriorating situation" in Afghanistan, Bagchi said: "We are in constant touch with the representatives of Afghan Sikh and Hindu communities. We will facilitate repatriation to India of those who wish to leave Afghanistan."
"There are also a number of Afghans who have been our partners in the promotion of our mutual developmental, educational and people to people endeavours. We will stand by them," Bagchi added.
Commercial flight operations from the Kabul airport have been suspended.
"This has forced a pause in our repatriation efforts. We are awaiting the resumption of flights to restart the process," he told reporters.
As the Taliban entered Kabul and took over control of Afghanistan, an unprecedented situation has unfolded in the war-torn nation with people rushing to the airports to flee the country amid fear, despair and panic.
A heartbreaking video on social media showed people falling to their deaths from an aircraft that had taken off from Kabul airport in their struggle to escape the nation.
Video on social media shows people falling to their deaths from an aircraft that had taken off from Kabul airport, presumably having attached themselves from the outside. pic.twitter.com/9KHeiuawXj
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 16, 2021
The development comes a day after Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday evening.
Later, in a Facebook post, he said that he had left Afghanistan to prevent a “flood of blood” in the country, after the Taliban took over Kabul.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Sohail Shaheen has said the Taliban government will include non-Taliban Afghans.
When asked if the new Taliban government will include members of the former Afghan government, Shaheen, speaking from Doha told CNN it would be “premature” right now to name who the officials will be, but he said that they are trying to have some “well known figures” to be part of the government.
“When we are saying an Afghan inclusive Islamic government, that means that other Afghans also have participation in the government,” he said.
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