India, on Monday, broke its silence on the evolving situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban snatched power of the country after 20 years of war.
India said that Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries would feel safer, if the Taliban doesn’t allow the country to be a breeding ground for terrorist groups.
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“If there is zero-tolerance for terrorism and it is ensured that Afghan territory is not used by terrorist groups to threaten or attack any other country, then Afghanistan’s neighbours would feel safer,” India’s ambassador to the UN TS Tirumurti said.
“We have seen very unfortunate scenes at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Women and children are in distress and incidents of firing,” Tirumurti added.
Also read: Over 200 Indians still await evacuation as Taliban takes over Afghanistan
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Tirumurti made this statement while speaking at the emergent meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which was convened to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Notably, over 200 Indians are still stranded at Kabul in Afghanistan, which is now under the rule of the Taliban.
Officials of the Indian embassy in Kabul along with ITBP personnel stationed at the embassy are yet to be evacuated.
An Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster carrier has reportedly been kept on standby to evacuate the stranded people.
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However, with Taliban fighters now controlling the streets of Kabul, concerns of Indian officials mount in regards to transportation of the embassy staff to the Kabul airport.
The Afghan airspace has been closed to commercial flights after thousands of desperate people flooded the airport in hope of getting out of the country.
At least five people were killed at the Kabul airport and three stowaways were reported to have fallen to their deaths from an airborne plane as thousands of Afghans are desperately trying to get on flights out of the country amid increasingly chaotic scenes.
US troops fired shots in the air at the Hamid Karzai International Airport to prevent hundreds of civilians from running onto the tarmac after they took over Afghanistan’s air traffic control.