External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said India has been carefully monitoring the events in Afghanistan and the focus is to safely bring back the stranded Indian nationals from the war-torn country. The minister’s remark comes after chairing a UN Security Council conference on peacekeeping in New York. "At the moment, we, like everybody else, are very carefully following developments in Afghanistan. Our focus is on ensuring security in Afghanistan and the safe return of Indian nationals," Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar said India’s approach towards Afghanistan would be based on its relationship with the Afghan people. Further, on being asked how India will deal with the Taliban leadership, he said it’s too early to say anything on this and did not comment on if India was in touch with the Taliban.
On the question, if India has been in conversation with the Taliban recently, the external minister responded saying, "At this point of time, we are looking at the evolving situation in Kabul... as Taliban and its representatives have come to Kabul and I think we need to take it from there.”
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The minister said that the country will maintain its investments and engagement. "For us, it (Indian investment in Afghanistan) reflected our historical relationship with Afghan people. That relationship with the Afghan people continues. That will guide our approach to Afghanistan in the coming days," added Jaishankar.
"At the moment we are, like everybody else, very carefully following developments in Afghanistan. I think our focus is on ensuring the security in Afghanistan and the safe return of Indian nationals who are there," he said.
Taliban fighters took control over the Afghan capital city Kabul and declared war to be over in Afghanistan and rename the country as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The development comes as the US troops withdrew from the country after 20 long years of establishing stability there.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the officials to prepare for the repatriation of Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan and ensured that India will support the country in this war against humanity and has also welcomed all those Afghan civilians who want to take refuge in India.
India Tuesday evacuated its staff from the Indian embassy in Kabul, including the ambassador and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel deployed in Kabul for security.
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Dr S Jaishankar on Monday has reached New York to attend an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
India is a non-permanent member of the Security Council which holds its Presidency for this month. This has been the second time in 10 days that the UN body is meeting to consult on the condition of the war-torn nation.