Cong says no plan in place to evacuate Indians from Afghanistan, calls it gross abdication of duty

PTI, Aug 16, 2021, 4:48 PM IST

New Delhi: With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, the Congress on Monday asked the Modi government to wake up from its slumber and protect Indians in the strife-torn country.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the situation in Afghanistan is extremely alarming and India’s strategic interests are at stake, but the government has not put in place any plan to evacuate its citizens there which is a gross abdication of duty.

Modi government’s refusal to set in motion a well thought out plan to evacuate our citizens is a gross abdication of its duty and is totally unacceptable.

“The Congress Party stands solidly behind protecting India’s interests and expects a mature political and diplomatic response from our Government over the complete collapse of Government in Afghanistan and Taliban takeover,” he told reporters.

“Despite this, the stunning silence of Narendra Modi Govt is deeply disturbing and highly intriguing, which is beyond any reasonable understanding. Modi government’s refusal to set in motion a well thought out plan to evacuate our citizens is a gross abdication of its duty and is totally unacceptable,” he also said.

“Situation in Afghanistan is extremely alarming. India’s strategic interests are at stake. Safety and security of our embassy and its personnel and Indian citizens is at stake. Modi government need to wake up from its slumber and protect Indian citizens in Afghanistan,” he also tweeted.

The Congress leader said the Taliban and Haqqani Network connections with Pakistan”s ISI and JeM, LeT, JuD are well known.

“There is an urgent need to revisit our geo-political interests in this background and its impact on J&K. Sadly, Modi Government is oblivious of the same,” he said.

Surjewala said the prime minister and External Affairs Minister need to come out and clearly spell out our policy for safe return of our citizens, embassy personnel as also our future relationship.

“Unexplained silence at this extremely critical juncture gives rise to a reasonable apprehension that Modi government is hiding something from the country. We are still in the dark over Modi government’s role in Doha talks,” the Congress leader said.

Need of the hour is that Modi government wakes up from its slumber and tells the country how it will tackle the dangerous situation in the immediate neighbourhood, he said.

He cited media reports quoting External Affairs Ministry that the Indian government does not take responsibility of Indians returning from abroad, and said it is shameful.

“If the safe return of Indians from abroad is not your responsibility then whose responsibility is it. No other country has done so. Every country is taking care of its citizens and evacuating them and are taking their assets back,”he said.

It is a very strange statement by the External Affairs Ministry, he also said.

Taliban insurgents swept into Afghanistan’s capital on Sunday after the government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani eft the country.

The US has said it would deploy 6,000 troops at the vital Kabul airport to ensure the safe departure of American citizens and its allies from Afghanistan which has been taken over by the Taliban, in a sudden and unprecedented collapse of the elected regime.

Unprecedented scenes and being witnessed in the Afghan capital Kabul, where panic-stricken people are scurrying to escape from the country.