669 people evacuated from Afghanistan under Operation Devi Shakti: Govt in RS

In the wake of the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan, the Indian government initiated an evacuation mission by the name 'Operation Devi Shakti'. The status quo was discussed in the Rajya Sabha with details of the situation now and then.

New Delhi: The Central government in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday shared the status of 'Operation Devi Shakti', an evacuation mission to move out people from Taliban-occupied Afghanistan, stating that 669 people have been evacuated safely till now, including 206 Afghans, and members of the Afghan Hindu/Sikh minority community.

This information was shared by MoS, Ministry of External Affairs V Muraleedharan via a written reply in Rajya Sabha. Shedding light on the details of the situation after the sudden fall of Ashraf Ghani's Government and the subsequent takeover by the Taliban, the minister said, "In view of the rapid deterioration in the security situation in Afghanistan last year, all Indians were advised to leave the country. A Special Afghanistan Cell was set up in the Ministry of External Affairs to facilitate repatriation and other requests from Afghanistan."

Replying to a question on the steps taken by the Government for protecting the lives and livelihood of Sikhs and Hindus from India in Afghanistan, the Union Minister replied, "In the terrorist attack on Gurdwara Dashmesh Pita Sahib Shri Gobind Singh Sahib Ji in Kabul on June 18, 2022, two Afghan nationals, including an Afghan Sikh community member, lost their lives and three other civilians were injured." He further added, "In order to facilitate the evacuation of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, the Government of India has been providing e-visas since August 2021."

It is pertinent to note here that almost a year has passed by and still the Taliban regime has failed to achieve international legitimacy, credit to its anti-democratic and imposition of coercive religious practices and the presence of international terror groups. While Russia, China, Iran, and Pakistan never really shut off their embassies in Kabul after the takeover by the Taliban last year, there are countries that have recently opened their missions there including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Central Asian States, Turkey, Qatar, Indonesia and now India.