India on Sunday evacuated 392 people, including two Afghan lawmakers, in three different flights as part of its mission to bring back Indians and Afghan partners from Kabul amid a scramble by various nations to rescue their citizens from the war-ravaged country in the wake of deteriorating security situation and increasing Taliban hostilities. Separately, 146 Indian nationals, who were evacuated from Afghanistan to Doha, are being repatriated to India on Sunday night, the Indian embassy in Qatar said this evening.
In the morning, a total of 168 people, including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were flown out of Kabul to Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) as the chaos continued at the airport in the Afghan capital. Another group of 87 Indians and two Nepalese nationals were brought back in a special Air India flight from Dushanbe, a day after they were evacuated to the Tajikistan capital in an IAF 130J transport aircraft, officials said.
As many as 135 Indians, who were earlier evacuated from Kabul to Doha in the last few days by the US and NATO aircraft, were flown back from the Qatari capital city to Delhi in a special flight, they said. "Bringing Indians back from Afghanistan. Second batch of 146 Indian nationals, who were evacuated from Afghanistan to Doha, being repatriated today to India," the Indian mission in Qatar tweeted at around 8 pm.
People familiar with the repatriation of the second batch of Indians from Doha said they will reach Delhi in four different flights which are scheduled to land in the national capital on Monday. The 168 people evacuated from Kabul included Afghan lawmakers Anarkali Honaryar and Narender Singh Khalsa and their families, the people said. "India is our second home. Even if we are Afghans and live in that country, people often call us Hindustanis. I thank India for extending its helping hand," Khalsa told reporters at the Hindon airbase near Delhi.
"I feel like crying. Everything is finished. It is a very difficult and painful decision to leave the country. We have not seen such a situation. Everything has been snatched away. It's all over," Khalsa said as he broke down when asked about the situation in Afghanistan.
With Sunday's evacuation, the number of people evacuated by India from Kabul reached around 590 since last Monday when the first group of people was evacuated, a day after the Taliban seized control of the city.
Taking to Twitter, Farid Mamundzay, Afghanistan ambassador to India, thanked Indian friends for their messages of support. "I appreciate the kind words of sympathy and support messages from all Indian friends and the diplomatic missions in New Delhi over the suffering of Afghans in the past few weeks, particularly the last seven to eight days. The avoidable suffering of Afghanistan is man-made and at a scale beyond all civilised contemplation. Afghanistan is going through a difficult time, and only good leadership, compassionate attitude and international support to the Afghan people would somewhat bring an end to these miseries," he tweeted.
India carried out the evacuation missions in coordination with the US and several other friendly countries. It is learnt that a small group of Indian officials is coordinating the evacuation mission at the Kabul airport, and another batch of Indians is expected to be brought back from the Afghan capital on Monday. However, it will depend on whether a sizable number of Indians, as well as Indian-origin people, manage to reach the airport.
People familiar with the situation in Kabul said Afghan nationals who are having Indian visas are facing increasing scrutiny from the Taliban. "Evacuation continues! IAF special repatriation flight with 168 passengers on board, including 107 Indian nationals, is on its way to Delhi from Kabul," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted hours before the plane landed at Hindon.
It is learnt that the Indians evacuated to Doha from Kabul were employees of a number of foreign companies that were operating in Afghanistan. "Bringing Indians home from Afghanistan! AI 1956 carrying 87 Indians departed from Tajikistan for New Delhi. Two Nepalese nationals also evacuated. Assisted and supported by our Embassy @IndEmbDushanbe. More evacuation flights to follow," Bagchi tweeted at around 1:20 am.
On the second batch of Indians returning home from Doha, the people cited above said 104 of them are being sent by a Vistara flight, 30 by a Qatar Airways flight and 11 of them will be reaching Delhi by an Indigo flight. One person is returning by an Air India flight, they said. Two days after the Taliban seized control of Kabul, India evacuated 200 people, including the Indian envoy and other staffers of its embassy in Kabul, in two C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft of the IAF.
The first evacuation flight brought back over 40 people, mostly staffers at the Indian embassy, on Monday last. The second C-17 aircraft evacuated around 150 people including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians from Kabul on Tuesday.
The Taliban swept across Afghanistan this month, seizing control of almost all key towns and cities, including Kabul, in the backdrop of the withdrawal of the US forces. Following the evacuation, the MEA said the focus now would be to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from the Afghan capital. The MEA said the immediate priority for the government is to obtain accurate information about all Indian nationals currently staying in Afghanistan. It also requested the Indians, as well as their employers, to urgently share relevant details with the special Afghanistan cell that was set up on August 16.
Sources said the cell received more than 2,000 phone calls and answered over 6,000 WhatsApp queries during the first five days of its operation. The cell answered more than 1200 e-mails during the period. According to a rough estimate last week, the number of Indians stranded in Afghanistan could be around 400, and India has been looking at ways to evacuate them including by coordinating with the US and other friendly countries.
Meanwhile, around 45 Keralites were among the batch of Indians airlifted from Afghanistan, who reached New Delhi on Sunday and shared tales of the ordeals they had gone through. A person from north Kerala who was in Afghanistan for the past few years told IANS, on the condition of anonymity, that, "It has been a nightmare and I don't know how to express it. There are several check-posts erected by Taliban and getting up to the airport was a herculean task and I thank the Government of India and the Government of Kerala for having helped all of us back to India. All the Keralites are back in the country."
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan thanked the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing the Keralites back to the country from Afghanistan. Vijayan, in a tweet, called upon anyone who is still stranded back in Afghanistan to contact the NORKA Roots website or the helpline of the External Affairs Ministry which is working 24X7.
(With PTI and IANS inputs)