In a major setback for India, New Delhi has been forced to pull out its Consulate General and diplomats from its Kandahar Consulate in Afghanistan.
In a statement, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson – Arindam Bagchi has confirmed that Indian Consulate General and diplomats from Kandahar Consulate in Afghanistan have been flown back due to ‘evolving security situation in Afghanistan’.
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Indian Foreign Ministry has said that the decision to pull out diplomats has been made due to intense fighting near Kandahar city.
However, the consulate will continue to operate via ‘local staff members’ and arrangements are being made to ensure continued delivery of visa and consular services via Indian Embassy in Kabul, added the statement issued by Indian Foreign Ministry.
Suhasini Haidar of The Hindu has reported that around 50 diplomats and security personnel have been flown to New Delhi from Kandahar as part of Indian government’s decision to evacuate all its personnel from Kandahar Consulate and closing those in Herat, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
Prior to this, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) – Major General Babar Iftikhar while speaking to ARY NEWS had remarked that ‘India was losing its anti-Pakistan investment made in the neighboring country.’
Read More: India losing its anti-Pakistan investment, says DGISPR
It is pertinent to know that Afghanistan’s Kandahar province shares a border with Pakistan’s Balochistan and Pakistan Army’s spokesperson’s remarks were indication towards the fact that India has been utilizing its consulates in Afghanistan and most notably its Kandahar Consulate to support TTP and Baloch separatists to carry out ambushes on Pakistan’s border check posts as well as terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
The development comes as Afghanistan has witnessed an exponential increase in violence following US troops’ withdrawal which has so far resulted in unprecedented gains made by the Taliban as Afghan security forces have been struggling to tackle their advance.
According to Taliban officials, the group had taken control of 85% of Afghanistan’s territory, as the United States and others withdraw the bulk of their troops after 20 years of fighting. Afghan government officials dismissed the assertion as a propaganda campaign.
A few days earlier, US President Joe Biden had defended his decision regarding withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
The US President had categorically refused to ‘send another generation of Americans to war in Afghanistan with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome’ announcing that American troops will be done with the military mission by August 31th next month.
