'We Are Jumping The Gun': MEA On Question Of Recognition Of Taliban Rule In Afghanistan

MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the situation on the ground in Afghanistan is uncertain, adding the primary concern is security and safety of the people.

MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi (Picture Credit: ANI)

New Delhi: Asserting there is no clarity as of now about any entity forming a government in Kabul, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said India’s priority is to safely evacuate the people from Afghanistan.

MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the situation on the ground in Afghanistan is uncertain, adding the primary concern is security and safety of the people.

READ: Afghanistan Taliban Crisis LIVE: Vast Majority Of Indians Who Wish To Return Have Been Evacuated, Says MEA

“Currently, there is no clarity about any entity forming a government in Kabul. I think we are jumping the gun regarding recognition,” he said while commenting on recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Bagchi said India has been seeking a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic Afghanistan.

“We are currently monitoring it closely. The current focus is on security situation of Afghanistan evacuations and seeing how it unfolds. Other countries are in the frame of wait and watch,” ANI quoted Bagchi as saying at a media briefing.

Commenting on the evacuations from the war-torn nation, the MEA official spokesperson said “the last flight had 40 odd people”.

“We were hearing reports that Afghan nationals were facing difficulties in reaching the airport. We know some Afghan nationals, including Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, couldn't reach the airport on August 25. Our flight had to come without them,” he added.

The MEA official spokesperson said the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has announced e-emergency visas regarding the Afghans who are coming to India.

“These are six-month visas. So, they are currently coming here under the six-month visa regime. We will take it from there,” Bagchi said while commenting on India’s policy on Afghan refugees

“We were moving to the e-Emergency visa system. It appears that all this could have led to some confusion which led to the unfortunate incident of denial of entry to a particular Afghan national,” he added.

Bagchi further said, “once the security situation deteriorated, there were reports of a group of people who raided one of our outsourcing agencies where the Afghan passports with Indian visas were there”.

“Our authorities were in a state of high alert,” he added.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had earlier on Thursday said the crisis in Afghanistan was “extremely critical” and added India's top priority was to evacuate “as many as possible”.

Speaking at an all-party meeting convened by the Central government to discuss the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, he said India, at the moment, had adopted a “wait and watch” policy over the chaos in the country.

Jaishankar further said India was trying to bring out as many people as possible from Afghanistan, adding evacuating Indian personnel was a “top priority”.