What has ‘Devi Shakti’ got to do with evacuation from Afghanistan? Read here

When India finalised the nitty gritty for evacuation of its citizens from trouble-torn Afghanistan, the conversation veered to what the operation would be called.  The high-risk, sensitive operation demanded meticulous planning and nerves of steel and so the name ‘Operation Devi Shakti’ (the power of Goddess) was picked.

The name of the operation was known when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar mentioned it in a tweet on Tuesday while referring to the arrival of a fresh batch of 78 evacuees in Delhi. “Op Devi Shakti continues. 78 evacuees from Kabul arrive via Dushanbe. Salute @IAF_MCC, @AirIndiain and #TeamMEA for their untiring efforts. #DeviShakti,” he said, reports PTI.

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People aware of the developments said the name was picked after discussions and it was concluded that since the evacuation was an attempt to protect innocent citizens,  ‘Operation Devi Shakti’ would be an appropriate name, reports news18.com

The evacuation process was discussed threadbare at the recent CCS meeting, where it was decided that apart for Indian citizens, Afghan minorities like Hindus and Sikhs and Afghan nationals who choose to come to India would be brought back.

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Till August 23, India had flown 8 flights to the troubled country, bringing back 730 people. Among these 730 people are members of the Afghan Sikh and Hindu communities. On Monday’s flight,  146 nationals were flown back on four different flights from Qatar’s capital Doha, days after they were evacuated from Afghanistan by NATO and American aircraft in view of the deteriorating security situation in the war-torn country.

On Sunday, 392 people including two Afghan lawmakers were evacuated in three different flights. The Taliban started their takeover of Afghanistan on August 6 and within 10 days took control of almost the entire country, taking Kabul on August 15. Within two days of the Taliban’s capture of Kabul, India had evacuated 200 people, including its ambassador, embassy staff and other Indian citizens in Kabul.

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The first evacuation flight brought back over 40 people, mostly staffers at the Indian embassy, on August 16. The second aircraft evacuated around 150 people including Indian diplomats, officials, security personnel and some stranded Indians from Kabul on August 17.