In view of the recent political crisis in Afghanistan and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in exigencies must be chalked out and it may be made available to all Indian Missions/Posts abroad, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs in its report “Demands for Grants -2022-23” suggested on Wednesday.
The Committee has also suggested that India should set up resident missions in the remaining 48 of the 193 UN member-nations in a time-bound manner in line with its aspiration to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The Committee has suggested that a database of Indian nationals abroad may be prepared and updated on a regular basis for emergency situations. “In view of the number and spread of overseas Indians, there is a high possibility of them getting stranded in a crisis situation. The recent political crisis in Afghanistan and conflict in Ukraine is a gross reminder about the implications on safety and security of Indian nationals in such a volatile situation. The role played by the Ministry in Afghanistan and Ukraine in the recent past has been commendable,” the report said.
The report further stated that the Committee are aware that during outbreak of conflict or any other exigencies, the evacuation of Indian citizens is planned on a case-to-case basis and evacuation is dependent on a number of factors. The report was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. Under the Operation Ganga mission, over 22000 Indian nationals have returned from Ukraine till date. The evacuation exercise involved a whole of the Government approach with Prime Minister himself taking regular coordination meetings and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) taking the lead role. Prime Minister spoke to Presidents of Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to ensure safe return of Indian nationals from Ukraine.
Under the Operation Devi Shakti, a total of 669 people were evacuated from Afghanistan including 448 Indians, 206 Afghans (including Hindu Sikh minority members) and 15people of foreign nationalities (Nepal, Lebanon and Uganda). These people were evacuated in seven flights; 6 flights operated between August 16 to 25, 2021 and the last flight on December 10, 2021.During the Operation Devi Shakti, both Indian Air Force and commercial flights were used which included six IAF flights (C-17 and C-130), two Air India flights and 1 Kam Air flight.
Evacuation from Afghanistan under these circumstances was a difficult and challenging exercise mainly due to fast deteriorating security situation in the country which prevented people from reaching airport and led to extreme chaos at airport premises.