8 months ago. Hindon Air Force Station, Hindon Residential Area, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Everything is finished: Afghan senator in tears after landing in India

168 people were evacuated from Afghanistan by the Indian Air Force on Sunday
Two Afghan senators were among those evacuated
Returnees are being tested for COVID-19 at the Hindon air base

The special Indian Air Force flight that evacuated 168 people from Kabul carried two Afghanistan senators who served the country’s civilian administration. Upon landing in India, one of the Afghan senators tearfully proclaimed, “Everything that was built in the last 20 years is now finished. It’s zero now.”. The senator, Narender Singh Khalsa, was speaking to the media at the Hindon air base where the Indian Air Force flight landed.

#WATCH | Afghanistan's MP Narender Singh Khalsa breaks down as he reaches India from Kabul.

"I feel like crying...Everything that was built in the last 20 years is now finished. It's zero now," he says. pic.twitter.com/R4Cti5MCMv
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021

As of now, India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan. Indians from Afghanistan also came in three other flights, operated by Air India, Indigo and Vistara. The flights landed from Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe and Qatar’s Doha early morning Sunday, reports NDTV.

Also Read | Afghanistan: These countries will accept Afghan refugees after Taliban coup

News agency ANI reported that the Afghan special cell set up by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has received more than 2,000 calls over the last five days and responded to nearly 6,000 messages on WhatsApp, quoting government sources.

Sunday’s evacuation comes almost a week after the last batch of Indians, including staff from the Indian embassy in Kabul and Indo-Tibetan Border Force personnel were brought to Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Also Read | Anti-Taliban groups lay claim over 3 districts in Panjshir Valley: Report

Many of the people who were evacuated on Sunday are from a Gurudwara in Kabul where they were sheltering for days. The Sikhs will be moved to Delhi’s Bangla Sahib.

Meanwhile, Indian Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Indian government has decided to vaccinate Afghan refugees coming to India with free polio vaccine as a preventive measure against the Wild Polio Virus. Returnees also underwent COVID-19 tests at the airport.

Also Read | EU refuses to recognise Taliban, promises help to resettle Afghan migrants

Sunday marks a week since the Taliban took over Afghanistan from the civilian administration by force. Since then, a flurry of Afghans and people from other nationalities stuck in Afghanistan have been trying to escape the war-torn country.

#Afghanistan #Taliban #India #Refugee #Evacuation #Flight #IndianAirForce #news #IndiaNews #World

Everything is finished: Afghan senator in tears after landing in India

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