UPDATE ON AUG 26, 02:26 PM IST
Afghanistan-Taliban Crisis Live Updates: S Jaishankar to brief floor leaders of political parties on Afghanistan at 11 am.
Afghanistan-Taliban Crisis Live Updates: The Taliban urge Afghans to stay to help rebuild their country, according to the Islamist group’s main spokesman, expecting foreign evacuations from Kabul to be completed by the end of August. The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed and President Ghani fled the country, bringing an unprecedented
A sign is seen, as people attend a rally against the Taliban and in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, on the Place de la Republique square in Paris, France.
Evacuating Indian personnel from Afghanistan, where the situation is “critical”, was a top priority, the government said on Thursday at the all-party meet, convened to brief on the Afghan situation. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders on the latest situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there last week.
Besides Jaishankar, Union minister and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi were also present during the briefing in the Parliament House Annexe. India was trying to evacuate as many people as possible from Afghanistan, the minister said and asserted that evacuating Indian personnel was a “top priority”, according to some of the participants at the meeting.
The government also described the situation in the war-torn country as “critical” and said the Taliban has broken the promises made in the Doha agreement. Among other things, the Doha pact, inked between the Taliban leaders and the US in February 2020, envisaged religious freedom and democracy, with a government in Kabul that represented all sections of Afghan society. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK’s T R Baalu, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel are among those attending the meet.