Afghanistan situation: All-party meet today, Jaishankar to brief floor leaders
India has so far brought back more than 800 people from Afghanistan, where the Taliban swept to power two weeks before the withdrawal of American forces. A fresh batch of 180 people, evacuated from Afghanistan, is expected to arrive today.
The central government has called an all-party meeting on Thursday on the Afghanistan situation. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 11am.
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This comes as the government asked external affairs minister S Jaishankar to brief the floor leaders of all the political parties on Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power there. Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said the Jaishankar will do so at the in-person meeting.
"Floor Leaders of Political Parties would be briefed by EAM @DrSJaishankar on the present situation in Afghanistan, on 26th August, 11 am in Main Committee Room, PHA, New Delhi. Invites are being sent through email. All concerned are requested to attend," he tweeted on Tuesday.
The government's briefing is expected to focus on its evacuation mission from Afghanistan as well as its assessment of the situation in the war-torn country in the wake of the Taliban seizing control of almost all key Afghan towns and cities, including capital Kabul.
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West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that representatives of her party, the Trinamool Congress, will attend the meeting. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi told news agency ANI that he has received an invite for the meeting and he will be attending it.
India has so far brought back more than 800 people from Afghanistan, where the Taliban swept to power two weeks before the withdrawal of American forces. Since August 15, when Taliban took over, a number of flights have brought back Indian nationals and members of the Afghan Sikh and Hindu communities.
A fresh batch of 180 people, evacuated from Afghanistan, is expected to arrive in India from Kabul in a military aircraft on Thursday. India has named its evacuation mission 'Operation Devi Shakti'.
Personnel from the US central command have been handling the security at the Hamid Karzai international airport in Kabul.
