New Delhi: The Central government on Thursday said that all necessary assistance would be provided to the Hindu and Sikh community members in Afghanistan as the war-ravaged country is witnessing massive violence by the Taliban insurgent groups. This comes at a time when the situation in Afghanistan has been highly hostile in the past few months and Sikh and Hindu communities are under constant threat of being attacked.
In response to a media query over the measures taken by the Indian government in the form of a rescue mission to bring back the minority community members, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "Last year, our Mission in Kabul facilitated the return of over 383 members of the Hindu and Sikh communities". "Our Mission in Kabul continues to remain in touch with Afghan Hindu and Sikh community members and we'll ensure the provision of all necessary assistance to them", he added during a weekly media briefing.
The Hindu and Sikh community members have been appealing to the international community to evacuate them to safety before it is too late. The Taliban which claims to have already captured 90% of the Afghan territory, continues to kill innocent people. Last week, the Taliban had removed the Sikh religious flag — Nishan Sahib—from the roof of Gurdwara Thala Sahib, in the Paktia province of Afghanistan. Later amid international pressure and India's strong condemnation, the flag was restored on August 6.
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Earlier today, the Taliban captured the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni- the 10th provincial capital in less than a week.
Further, MEA spokesperson said, " We had issued an advisory for Indian nationals to leave Afghanistan for India through commercial means, there is no formal evaluation mechanism. He also reiterated that separately, the Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif has withdrawn all India-based personnel earlier this week, this is a temporary measure. "Our Consulate there continues to be operational with locally recruited staff", Bagchi added
Also on the query of India's discussions with the Taliban on the Afghanistan issue, MEA spokesperson said that India is in touch with all stakeholders, "I would not like to say anything further", he added.
