Kabul: As the Taliban continue their offensive against Afghanistan, India on Saturday said it is planning to offer shelter and support to Afghanistan nationals in the war-torn nation. As per a report by News18, the Indian government is working on a plan to provide asylum to all those fleeing the violence. All India supporters, regardless of religion, will be offered help, the report suggested.
The development comes after India on Thursday joined a regional conclave hosted by Qatar to discuss ways to contain the escalating situation in Afghanistan in the backdrop of the Taliban’s continued offensive across the country.
Notably, JP Singh, Joint Secretary in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), represented India at the meeting.
Earlier, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said several important stakeholders in Afghanistan attended the meeting. Bagchi said that the invitation for the meeting to India was extended by Qatari special envoy for conflict resolution Mutlaq bin Majed Al-Qahtani during his visit to the national capital last week.
“We are committed to the long-term development of Afghanistan. We would like to see a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan,” Bagchi said at a media briefing.
On Friday, India along with Germany, Qatar, Turkey and several other nations reaffirmed to not recognise any government in Afghanistan that is imposed through the use of military force and called for an immediate end to violence and attacks in the war-torn country.
The countries also mentioned the converging statements from both sides on “guiding principles” for a political settlement such as inclusive governance, respect for human rights, including the rights of women and minorities, a mechanism to deliver a representative government, a commitment to not allow any individuals or groups to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of other countries and respect for international law.
On August 13, India said it is constantly monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and contingency plans are in place to deal with any situation including evacuation of officials and Indian citizens if required.
It is learned that a number of international organisations including media entities have approached Indian authorities to help them in the evacuation of their staff if the situation deteriorates further.
India evacuated its staff from its consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif earlier this week in view of the rapidly escalating violence by the Taliban around the capital city of Balkh province.