Two years back on this day – August 17, 2021 – as many as 150 Indian nationals were brought back to India from the Afghan capital Kabul two days after the Taliban takeover of that country, as India officially kickstarted ‘Operation Devi Shakti’. The US and international troops under NATO were scurrying to leave the country where they came in uninvited in 2001 as then US President George Bush's administration declared its infamous ‘Global War on Terror’ (GWOT) after the terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center. This was the longest war ever fought by America anywhere in the world and it aimed to eliminate al-Qaeda, and by Washington’s own admission “this work is not done”. However, the Joe Biden administration wanted to close the chapter. He did leave Afghanistan, but in the worst state possible.
I was one of the 150 Indians who came back to India onboard a C-17 Globemaster of the Indian Air Force (IAF) along with other Indian nationals and the entire staff of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, including then Ambassador of India to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon. The evacuation was done in the darkness of the night on August 16, 2021, and the threat of the Taliban attacking the convoy remained high until we entered the technical area of the Kabul airport still being manned by the American forces. Reaching the airport looked impossible and some of us were not even allowed to carry our luggage and came back only with handbags.
Under ‘Operation Devi Shakti’, around 700 people were evacuated from Afghanistan. Among them were Afghan nationals who were mostly Hindus and Sikhs. Notwithstanding the grave security condition there post the takeover that even saw a gruesome bomb blast at the Kabul airport, the minority community members did the impossible task of bringing with them two ‘Swaroops’ of Guru Granth Sahib and some ancient Hindu manuscripts while the Taliban unleashed terror and violence across Afghanistan.
On August 17, 2021, another decision was taken by the Indian government that now threatens to alter the people-to-people relationship between India and Afghanistan that was built painstakingly over the years. The decision was to revoke all existing valid visas and replace them with ‘e-Emergency X-Misc Visa’. Under this, those who had valid visas also had to apply for an Indian visa afresh. Some among them were students, some patients and their family members, while some were former diplomats who had served in India before at the Embassy of Afghanistan.
A Heartbreaking Decision For Afghans
The decision to revoke all valid visas, some of which were granted by the Indian Embassy just days before Kabul fell, had sent shockwaves across the war-ravaged country whose citizens revere India not because they are besotted with Bollywood and Shah Rukh Khan but because they trusted Indians, particularly its education and healthcare system. For the past 20 years, Afghan nationals used to visit India for higher education and they came to India for medical tourism. All that came to a screeching halt. Several Afghan students, who had obtained scholarships from Indian universities, and some had even paid admission fees, were never given the coveted e-visa.
The Afghans trusted Indians due to the fact that India remained the largest regional donor to Afghanistan, investing around $3 billion in the redevelopment of the country by building schools to dams, which were ravaged by wars. By doing this, India was also able to keep Pakistan’s influence there under check. To this day, India is reaping the benefits of these policies.
India, a top-level source tells me, is now also speaking to the Haqqani group in Kabul, which had once attacked the Indian Embassy. It has been a year since India reopened its embassy there, which essentially means New Delhi has been able to effectively establish a regular communication channel with the Taliban. Hence, it should not be an arduous task for India, compared to what it was in 2021, to once again let common Afghans come to India.
It was due to the people-to-people contacts that India was able to open four consulates across some of the most sensitive provinces of Afghanistan such as Jalalabad, Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. This gave India a significant strategic advantage over Pakistan. Each of these provinces is considered to be a highly vulnerable zone where the presence of terrorism remained at its peak. India operated the consulates despite constant threats from Pakistan-based terror outfits. Yet, it remained firm in these locations until Covid struck and then the Taliban comeback, both of which forced the Narendra Modi government to shut the consulates down.
Such a move adversely impacted the people-to-people connection as many believed India’s presence in these provinces to be the “presence of a friend”. Afghans preferred — some of them still do — to come to India to obtain degrees from Indian universities, get treated by Indian doctors and amalgamate with the Indian culture. However, on that day, after a security review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi, India decided to abruptly cancel all valid visas of hundreds and thousands of Afghans, who were left in the lurch. Many Afghans have told me that they still refuse scholarships from Pakistan as they want to study only in India. There are those whose treatment got halted due to the sudden change in the Indian visa system.
Why It’s Time To Open Doors To Common Afghans
Interestingly, the decision by the Ministry of Home Affairs to replace the traditional visa system with that of e-visas initially gave hope to many as they thought this would expedite the visa process even as India ramped up its evacuation process in the days following the Taliban takeover. The element of hope doubled for the Afghans when by the end of August of that year India again began connecting with the Taliban through its embassy in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban’s political headquarters is based. India's then envoy to Doha, Dipak Mittal, who is currently serving in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), met Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, then the head of Taliban’s Political Office, discussing the issue of allowing Afghan nationals to visit India. But nothing happened.
Several former Afghan diplomats who had served in India and had long-standing relationships wanted to come to India and then move on to other destinations but their requests were not considered. Some former Afghan ministers who served under the Hamid Karzai government as well as under the Ashraf Ghani regime and who have helped India build its intelligence network in Afghanistan were also denied the e-visa. The focus was mainly on letting the minorities travel to India, which essentially meant the majority of the Muslim population was kept out. On the other hand, Afghan refugees living in India for several years urged the Modi government to grant them refugee status. They protested for days outside the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) demanding justice.
Meanwhile, in June 2022, India reopened its embassy in Kabul, yet it never went back to granting visas through the older means. The Ministry of External Affairs said the decision to reopen the embassy was taken in order to distribute humanitarian aid consisting of food and medical items. Earlier this week, the MEA said India’s wheat donation to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021 reached a record 47,500 MT this month which has helped millions of Afghans. But what the majority of the Afghans need today is a visa to come and study in India, to get treated in India and simply to transit from India to other Western destinations. It is time for India to regain its goodwill and open its door to the common Afghans.
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