Will evacuate Indians, support Afghans who stood by us: MEA

Operation Devi Shakti: The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said India's priority would be to evacuate the Indian citizens from Afghanistan and Afghan nationals "who stood by us".

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India had evacuated over 550 persons in six separate flights, either from Kabul or Dushanbe. "Of these, over 260 were Indians. The Government of India also facilitated the evacuation of Indian nationals through other agencies. We were in touch with various countries such as US and Tajikistan," Bagchi said. Also read | Amid Punjab Congress mess, Harish Rawat seeks to be relieved of state party duties The spokesperson added that the overall assessment was that the vast majority of Indians who wished to return had been evacuated. "Some more are likely to be in Afghanistan. I don't have the exact number for that," he added. Regarding the policy of evacuation, Bagchi said India was able to bring out some Afghan nationals as well as nationals from other countries. "Of these, many of them were Sikhs and Hindus. Primarily, our focus will be on Indian nationals, but we'll also stand by Afghans who stood by us." Also read | Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu's political advisor quits after Harish Rawat's ultimatum External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Thursday said India's focus was on evacuation and the government was doing everything to evacuate people from Afghanistan post the Taliban takeover. Speaking after an all-party meeting on the current situation in Afghanistan, Jaishankar said the government was committed to ensuring full evacuation as soon as possible. He further informed that under Operation Devi Shakti, the government would try and evacuate Indians from Afghanistan. -PTC News