IAF's flight likely to airlift 46 Afghan Hindus, Sikhs from Kabul Airport today
Aug 23, 2021
New Delhi [India], August 23 : An Indian Air Force (IAF) special flight, carrying stranded Indian nationals and 46 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs, is expected to take off from Kabul Airport on Monday.
Indian World Forum President Puneet Singh Chandhok said international forces have escorted the evacuees to the Indian Air Force aircraft. According to him, three Sri Guru Granth Sahib is also on their way from Afghanistan.
"I can confirm that the stranded Indian Nationals and 46 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs with three Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (holy book) are currently inside the Kabul Airport and are being escorted by International forces to the Indian Air Force aircraft on the ground," Chandhok said.
Countries including India have been urgently evacuating their citizens from the war-torn nation. The evacuation is being carried out in the wake of the collapse of the Afghan government and its take over by the Taliban.
The Kabul airport is witnessing nowadays heavy chaos as thousands of Afghans in an attempt to flee the Taliban have flocked to the airport.
India on Sunday brought back nearly 400 people on three different flights. Another group of 87 Indians and two Nepalese nationals were brought back in a special Air India flight from Dushanbe, a day after they were evacuated to the Tajikistan capital in an IAF aircraft.
Separately, 135 Indians evacuated from Kabul to Doha in the last few days by the US and NATO aircraft were flown back to Delhi on a special flight.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that the Indian government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan.
The MEA said the main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of the Kabul airport.
India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan, government sources told ANI.
The permission was granted by American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces, which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15.
