Terming the situation in Afghanistan as “critical,” the Government on Thursday told 31 political parties that India will have to wait to let things “settle down” and be “patient” before deciding its approach towards the Taliban. The Centre also said the Taliban has broken the promises made in the Doha agreement about allowing religious freedom and democracy in Afghanistan.
At present, the top priority is to evacuate all Indian citizens from the strife torn country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here after briefing an all-party meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.
He said the Government is committed to “full evacuation” of Indians from Afghanistan, where the situation is “critical.”
Asked about the Government’s approach towards Taliban and possible engagement with it, he told reporters the situation in Afghanistan has not settled down. “You will have to keep patience: Let the situation settle down.” He also said all the parties have similar views and “we approached the issue with spirit of national unity.”
Making these assertions, the Minister said, “We have brought back most Indians... not all. Some could not make it for yesterday’s (Wednesday) flight. We will definitely try and bring back everyone. We have instituted an e-visa policy and the Government is strongly committed to ensuring a full evacuation as soon as possible.”
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. There will be more such high-level calls in the days to come, he said.
“We have undertaken evacuation operations in extremely difficult conditions, especially at the airport. Our immediate concern and task are evacuation, and the long-term interest is the friendship for the Afghan people,” he said.
On fluid situation in Afghanistan, Jaishankar said, “the Government is very strongly committed to ensuring full evacuation as soon as possible, and also seeing that in terms of any international decisions which are made, any gatherings that are there, that our role is recognised. There will be many more meetings in coming days.”
He made this point amidst allegations that India stood isolated in the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan and reportedly told the political leaders that besides Merkel and Putin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Britain Foreign Minister Dominic Raab were also in touch with India.
On the evacuation of the diplomatic staff, the Government informed the political leaders the decision was taken as the Indian Embassy in the past was attacked twice in Kabul.
The political parties were also informed that the Taliban has broken the promises made in the Doha agreement. Among other things, the Doha pact, inked between the Taliban leaders and the US in February 2020, envisaged religious freedom and democracy, with a Government in Kabul that represented all sections of Afghan society.
The Doha agreement said within the first 135 days of the deal, the US would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600, with allies also drawing down their forces proportionately.
The deal also included a prisoner swap. Some 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 Afghan security force prisoners would be exchanged.
The US would also lift sanctions against the Taliban and work with the United Nations to lift its separate sanctions against the group. As per the agreement, the Taliban will also not allow al-Qaeda or any other extremist group to operate in the areas they control.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister and leader of the Rajya Sabya Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi attended the meeting besides Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge (Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha) and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (party chief in the Lok Sabha). Sharad Pawar (NCP), TR Baalu (DMK), and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda were also present in the meeting.
After the meeting Kharge told a news agency his party had also expressed concern over reports that a female Afghan diplomat had been deported.
He said the Government had told him a “mistake” had been made, that “it won’t be repeated” and that it would “look into the matter”. He was referring to an incident where Rangina Kargar, an Afghan woman MP flew from Istanbul to New Delhi on her diplomatic passport and deported on August 20.
Kharge also expressed broad support for the Government, underlining that the situation in Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan is “the entire country’s problem”.
“We have to work together in the interests of the people and the nation,” he said, adding that the Government had sought patience from the Opposition while it plans the evacuations.
As per the evacuation data shared with the participants, the Government has evacuated --175 Embassy personnel, 263 other Indian nationals, 112 Afghan nationals including Hindus and Sikhs, 15 third country nationals and the total figure stood at 565.
The document also said the Government also facilitated evacuation of Indians by other agencies.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and Indian Ambassador to Kabul Rudrendra Tandon were present during the all party meeting. Nearly 37 leaders from 31 parties took part in the session while 25 of them spoke.