India sent two C-17s, which flew into Kabul using a circuitous route through Iranian airspace and over the Arabian Sea in order to avoid flying over Pakistan or spending too much time in the uncontrolled Afghan airspace, Hindustan Times reports.
India on Tuesday withdrew its ambassador and diplomatic staff from Kabul, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting during which he directed officials to ensure all Indian nationals are evacuated safely from war-torn Afghanistan.
Some 150 people, including India’s ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, were brought back on a C-17 Globemaster heavy lift aircraft from the Afghanistan capital on Tuesday, a day after 45 diplomats and security personnel were flown in similarly as part of an extensive evacuation programme kept tightly under wraps and put into motion after Indian side received credible inputs about possible threats from rouge elements and Pakistani terror groups.
PM Modi held a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and, according to officials aware of the discussions, issued directions to ensure all Indian nationals are brought back safely, and that India is able to extend assistance to Afghan citizens requiring it.
“In view of the prevailing situation in Kabul, it was decided that our embassy personnel would be immediately moved to India. This movement has been completed in two phases and the ambassador and all other India-based personnel have reached New Delhi [on Tuesday] afternoon,” the external affairs ministry said earlier in the day.