Twenty one Indian nationals were among the several dozen people who were evacuated from Afghanistan by France overnight in the country’s first evacuation flight, Emmanuel Lenain, the French ambassador to India, announced in a tweet on Wednesday. The passengers, who arrived in Paris, were “elite Gurkhas” said Lenain.
The flight early Tuesday brought the evacuees to a military air base in Abu Dhabi, and several of the passengers were then sent back to France.
https://twitter.com/FranceinIndia/status/1427865917027876868?s=20
Lenain’s tweet was in response to a tweet by President Emmanuel Macron, who said that the first flight with French and foreign nationals just arrived in Paris from Kabul via the United Arab Emirates.
“Once again, with courage and a sense of duty, our soldiers and diplomats are mobilising to protect people,” Macron tweeted in French.
Macron had promised on Monday that France would not abandon Afghans who worked for the country, from translators to kitchen staff as well as artists, activists and others potentially under threat with the collapse of the Afghan government.
The Indian government on Tuesday secured the return of 129 Indians in an IAF aircraft, which also included staff of the embassy, including Ambassador Tandon, media persons and personnel from the ITBP. The flight which took off from Kabul in the morning made a halt for refuelling at Jamnagar, Gujarat, before landing in Delhi.
In a meeting with Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Tuesday, the Prime Minister asked officials to ensure safe return of all Indians, who are stuck in the strife-torn country, even if it means sending multiple flights to Kabul and other locations.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government on Tuesday said at least 41 Malayalis including women and children have been stranded in Taliban-controlled Kabul and requested the Centre to make necessary arrangements for their safe evacuation to the home country.
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