Indian envoy meets Tajikistan FM, discusses matters of bilateral cooperation

Indian Ambassador Viraj Singh on August 24 met with Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Farhod Salim, the Indian mission in Dushanbe informed in a tweet. Sharing an image of Salim with Singh, the official Twitter account stated that the officials discussed the matters of bilateral cooperation between India and Tajikistan. The tweet read, “Ambassador Viraj Singh met Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Farhod Salim and discussed matters of bilateral cooperation.”

As the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15, India among several other governments are scrambling efforts to evacuate its citizens from the war-ravaged nations. Hundreds of Indian nationals are being lifted out of Afghanistan fearing the new rulers, some of them are being airlifted through Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Qatar.

Airlifted Kabul evacuees from Tajikistan chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’

As the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, 87 evacuated Indians along with two Nepalese nationals chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ on an Air India flight having left for New Delhi from Tajikistan. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Twitter, “Bringing Indians home from Afghanistan! AI 1956 carrying 87 Indians departs from Tajikistan for New Delhi. Two Nepalese nationals also evacuated. Assisted and supported by our Embassy @IndEmbDushanbe. More evacuation flights to follow.”

Meanwhile, 168 passengers including 107 Indians also arrived at the Indian Air Force base in Ghaziabad from Kabul on a C-17 jet. Earlier, on August 17, a similar video had emerged on social media where the evacuated Indians from Afghanistan had chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Matram’ when a military transport airliner had landed at IAF base in Jamnagar at 11:15 AM, which had taken off from Kabul with 120 Indians. Governments across the globe including India have scrambled their efforts to evacuate their citizens from the war-ravaged country as the Taliban re-conquered the nation.

As per reports, those familiar with the developing situation in Afghanistan have said that the Taliban's leadership and political leaders continued to hold negotiations on the formation of the new government. However, as of now, there is no clarity if key points have been discussed between both parties. Further, on Saturday, one of the founding members of the Taliban Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul to join discussions with former Afghan leaders.

IMAGE: Twitter