As India continues to evacuate Indian nationals staying in Afghanistan amid crisis situation, the embassy of India Doha in Qatar informed that second batch of 146 Indian nationals who were evacuated from Afghanistan to Doha, is being repatriated to India today.
Notably, India today brought back 392 people, including two Afghan lawmakers, in three different flights as part of the mission to evacuate its nationals and Afghan partners. A total of 168 people, including 107 Indians and 23 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, were flown from Kabul to Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
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.
Separately, 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 on a special flight, they said. The group of 168 people, who were evacuated from Kabul, included Afghan lawmakers Anarkali Honaryar and Narender Singh Khalsa and their families, people familiar with the evacuation mission said.
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 sizeable 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.
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.
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