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IAF C-17 lands in Jamnagar with Indian officials evacuated from Afghanistan (ANI) WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI/KABUL: The IAF aircraft carrying Indian officials landed in Gujarat's Jamnagar today (August 17). The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) successfully carried out a three-day evacuation mission to bring back 192 Indians stranded in what is now the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. " I am very happy that the mission is over now and we are back home safely without any untoward incident or accident," said Indian envoy Rudrendra Tandon at Jamnagar IAF airbase.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden, amid mounting criticism of his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, took a defiant stance and said "American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves."
As Taliban took over Kabul and horrible images of desperate Afghans trying to flee the country came to fore, many criticised the United States for leaving Afghanistan in a mess. But Biden said "the developments of the past week reinforced that ending US. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision." He added, "It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not. "
On Monday (August 16), the Ministry of External Affairs of India has said that the doors are open for the Sikh and Hindu minorities of Pakistan. "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," foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has compared the Taliban control of Kabul with breaking the 'shackles of slavery'. He said, "You take over the other culture and become psychologically subservient. When that happens, please remember, it is worse than actual slavery. It is harder to throw off the chains of cultural enslavement. What is happening in Afghanistan now, they have broken the shackles of slavery".
On the other hand, the Russian embassy in Kabul said that the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fled the country with vehicles full of cash. There was so much that he had to leave money behind as it wouldn't fit in his plane.
After the takeover of Kabul, China on Monday said that it is willing to develop 'friendly relations' with Afghanistan's new incoming Taliban regime, said reports. Whereas Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is planning to deploy soldiers to Afghanistan to help with the evacuation of German nationals and Afghans in danger from the Taliban, according to international media reports, quoting parliamentary sources.
Fearing a return of the brutal Taliban rule of the past, thousands of Afghan nationals, including men, have been trying to flee the war-ravaged country after the fall of Kabul and other provincial capitals of Afghanistan. Those who have lived in areas controlled by the Islamic militants in recent years are watching with growing fear as the insurgents have overrun most of the country while international forces withdraw.
The United Nations Secretary-General has said that he is 'deeply concerned' about the current situation and has urged the Taliban to exercise utmost restraint. Antonio Guterres stated that the UN remains determined to contribute to a peaceful settlement and promote the human rights of all Afghans.
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