Afghanistan crisis: India to wait and watch until there is clarity on government formation

As per reports, the Taliban is working to form an interim caretaker government.

Taliban forces block the roads around the airport in Kabul (Image: Reuters)

India has said there is a lack of clarity of any entity forming the government in Afghanistan and New Delhi continues to be on a wait and watch mode.

When asked whether India will be recognizing the Taliban, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: "The situation on the ground is uncertain. The prime concern is the safety and security of people. Currently, there is a lack of clarity about any entity forming the government in Kabul. So I think we are jumping the gun on recognition."

"Currently there is no clarity about any entity forming the government in Afghanistan. There are lot of stories going around on who will be representatives of that government. Whether that government will be inclusive, we continue to monitor the situation carefully. It`s an evolving situation. There is a peace process and discussions are still going on as we speak. We know the ground situation," the MEA spokesperson added.

According to international media reports, the Taliban is working to form an interim caretaker government. Top Taliban leader Mullah Baradar had arrived in Kabul and is holding talks with leaders on government formation.

According to some reports, Taliban leadership also held talks with former president Hamid Karzai.

Taliban seized power on August 15. Some countries like Pakistan, China, Turkey expressed intent and willingness to recognize and work with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, Amrullah Saleh who calls himself a caretaker President of Afghanistan is reportedly erecting an anti-Taliban resistance force in Panjshir. There is also no clarity so far from the Taliban that will they include Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and other ethnicities in government.

India's position however continues to be on "wait and watch" mode as bomb blasts and deteriorating security situation in Kabul are making evacuation efforts difficult. On Thursday, an evacuation flight came with mere 40 passengers as reaching Kabul airport has become a difficult task. India has said that it has evacuated almost all the Indian citizens who wish to come.

Speaking to media persons, MEA spokesperson said, "We have evacuated more than 550 people on six separate flights either directly from Kabul or through Dushanbe. Of these, more than 260 were Indian nationals. This does not include Indian embassy personnel who are also being evacuated. Separately, the government also facilitated the evacuation of Indian nationals through other countries and partners."

"In this evacuation process, we were in touch with various countries particularly the United States as it is controlling the airport. Also, coordination of permissions of military flights overflew Iran, Uzbekistan," MEA spokesperson added.

"We were able to bring out some Afghan nationals as well as nationals from other countries. Of these, many of them were Sikhs and Hindus. Primarily, our focus will be on Indian nationals, but we`ll also stand by Afghans who stood by us," Bagchi said during the press conference in the national capital.

India has opened the window of E-visas for the tenure of six months for Afghan nationals. India is also holding discussions on the position of Afghans who are already here for health checkups and studies etc before the Taliban seized power in Kabul.