Government must ensure terrorist acts don’t take place on Afghan soil: JDU
Afghanistan’s current scenario, according to the JDU leader, is extremely worrisome.
NEW DELHI — Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, the leader of the Janata Dal (United), said on Thursday that the Central government must verify that no country uses Afghan soil for terrorist activities before establishing diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, where the Taliban took control last week.
The JDU leader, speaking to ANI on today’s all-party meeting on the Afghan issue, stated that Afghanistan’s current situation is extremely problematic.
‘Large number of Afghans aspire to immigrate to India’
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke with Vladimir Putin of Russia and Angela Merkel of Germany as they want internal consensus because 200 Indian individuals are still stuck in Afghanistan, and 800 people have been airlifted to date.
According to him, large number of Afghans aspire to immigrate to India.
Prasad also expressed his optimism that today’s meeting will yield positive results.
All-Party meeting over Afghanistan scenario underway
The Centre has convened an all-party meeting for Thursday at 11 AM to review the situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of the war-torn country. S Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs, will update the floor leaders of all political parties.
This comes after opposition parties demanded that the government give a statement regarding the Afghan crisis.
The meeting will be attended by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress‘s Lok Sabha Leader, and Mallikarjun Kharge, the Opposition Leader in the Rajya Sabha.
This comes as the Indian government prepares to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn country, after the Taliban stormed the presidential palace in Kabul on August 15 and declared victory over the government following months of fighting.
India’s evacuation mission in Afghanistan
In light of the prevailing scenario in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power, India on August 17 declared that it will grant an emergency e-visa to Afghan nationals, wishing to visit the country.
Until Tuesday, India had evacuated 626 persons from Afghanistan, including 228 Indian citizens, according to Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
To date, 626 persons have been evacuated from Afghanistan, including 228 Indian citizens, Puri informed, adding that a total of 77 Sikhs from Afghanistan had been evacuated.
PM Narendra Modi has already urged the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to update all political party floor leaders on current events in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting on August 17 and directed all responsible officials to take all necessary steps to secure the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from Afghanistan in the days ahead.
