The Indian Embassy in Kabul, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the Cabinet Secretariat, these three centers played an important role in carrying out the mission.
The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating after the Taliban regime came to power in Afghanistan. The Taliban have stepped up their efforts to form a government, and in the meantime, India’s focus is on evacuating its people. Around 120 people including India’s ambassador and other embassy staff were brought to India from Kabul. The journey from Kabul to Jamnagar was not easy for all these Indians but it was even more difficult to get all these Indians safely to the Kabul airport because Taliban fighters are now roaming freely on the streets in Kabul. In such a situation, it was difficult to take any Indian to the airport without hurting him.
According to the information, a total of 130 people were brought to the airport in about 14 vehicles on Tuesday. These included Indian citizens, journalists, ambassadors, other embassy staff and Indian security personnel. The flight was canceled due to overcrowding at Kabul airport. The mission of the Air Force was to rescue them all.
The Indian Embassy in Kabul, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the Cabinet Secretariat, these three centers played an important role in carrying out the mission. Vehicles were prepared in different batches to take Indians from around Kabul to the airport. Documents required at the embassy were destroyed as per protocol prior to any mission. It was earlier decided that everyone would be taken to the airport safely at night, but the Taliban had declared a curfew at night. Among them were those Indians who were ready to return home. All of them were asked to come to the embassy. All of them spent the night of 16 August at the embassy and all of them left for the airport on 17 August.
The Taliban have deployed their fighters around the embassy in Kabul. No one was allowed to come and go, but Indians were getting entry by showing paper. If an Afghan citizen did this, he was being stopped. It was decided that the returning Indians be kept in the embassy. Now the biggest challenge was how to get everyone from the embassy to the airport. A total of 14 vehicle convoys were formed, including front and rear pilot vehicles. Among them were people speaking the local language, people who knew the local street. A total of 15 checkpoints were set up along the road from the embassy to the airport, where the Taliban were stationed.
As the checkpoints were being crossed one by one, Delhi was being informed as the officers remained awake throughout the night to carry out this mission in Delhi also. Meanwhile the Americans were briefed about the mission as US forces provided security at the airport.