India's evacuation efforts from Afghanistan continue, over 600 brought back so far

After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, India has initiated mass evacuation operations to help bring back stranded Indian and Afghan nationals to the country. These operations have been intricately coordinated between the Indian Government and the Indian Air Force (IAF) in tandem with the Foreign Ministry's of Tajikistan and Qatar given the sensitive and volatile situation in the war-torn nation. Here is a detailed account of India's evacuation operations from Afghanistan so far.

Evacuation of Indian Embassy Officials

As the Taliban closed in on Kabul on August 15, an Air India flight took off from the Hamid Karzai airport with 129 passengers on board. This was the last commercial flight that operated directly between Kabul and New Delhi after the takeover of Afghanistan. Immediately after this, the prime focus of the Indian Government was to bring back stranded Embassy Officials.

On August 16, the IAF evacuated Indian embassy officials from Kabul and brought them back to the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad. 140 Indians, including the last of Indian embassy staff, ITBP personnel, 3 Embassy dogs and 4 media persons were on board a C-17 Globemaster. The MEA released a statement saying that all its Embassy personnel had been evacuated in the two flights and had reached safely back to India by August 17. 

On August 18, PM Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to review the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. He also held a talk with the Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia over the phone for about 40 minutes. Efforts to repatriate Hindu and Sikh minorities from the country were also charted out. The MEA’s 24x7 Special Afghanistan Cell was reinforced.

IAF coordinate preparation from Kabul via Tajikistan

Thereafter, the IAF carried out a massive operation and evacuated 219 Afghan civilians which included a large number of members from the Sikh community stranded in Kabul. The IAF's C-17 Globemaster brought back the stranded civilians to the Hindan airbase. Another Indian Air Force C-130J transport aircraft took off from Kabul with over 85 Indians to Tajikistan on August 21. From here, an Air India flight helped bring back the citizens, and two Afghan lawmakers to India. 

The same day the MEA confirmed the evacuation of 168 people, including 107 Indian nationals stuck in Afghanistan. The evacuation was done by a special repatriation flight that reached the Hindon IAF base in Ghaziabad

392 civilians evacuated via Tajikistan & Qatar 

On August 22, 392 persons were airlifted from Kabul in an operation that covered Indian citizens as well as Afghan nationals, including Sikhs and Hindus. They were flown from Kabul to Hindon airbase near Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift military transport aircraft. The passengers had been divided into three aircraft, including a heavy-lift C-1 and two Air India and Indigo flights via Tajikistan and Qatar. 

On August 23, the Indian Embassy in coordination with the US Embassy helped evacuate 146 people, largely Sikhs via Qatar. More IAF sorties have been planned for the evacuation of Indian as well as Afghan citizens in the coming days. The MEA has assured that the government is fully committed to facilitating a safe return of all Indian nationals from the Taliban-captured country.