Commercial flights from Kabul to India may resume soon, officials indicate

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In view of the large number of Indians still stranded in Afghanistan, the Indian government has been considering to permit commercial flight operations from Kabul to India soon, officials indicated on Thursday.

According to the officials, the civil aviation wing of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan recently sent a letter to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India seeking permission for Afghan national carriers to resume scheduled commercial flights between the two countries.

The letter also mentioned that the Kabul airport has become operational.

The officials also said that the government is considering the request in view of the stranded Indians who could not be evacuated earlier under India's 'Operation Devi Shakti'.

According to the sources, around 2,000 Indian workers were employed in various developmental projects in Afghanistan and around 50 per cent of them have not been able to make contact with the Indian authorities that facilitated the evacuations. Many Indian traders also chose to remain there at that time, the sources added.

However, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that a small number of Indians are stuck in war-torn nation, reiterating that evacuation of the remaining Indians from Afghanistan will depend on the resumption of special or commercial flights once Kabul airport gets operational.

The commercial flight operations from Kabul were suspended soon after the Taliban took over the control of Afghanistan on August 15.

The Taliban took full control of the Kabul airport on August 31 after the last batch of US forces left Afghanistan on August 30.

The first evacuation drive from Kabul to India was carried out on August 17, when the Indian Envoy to Afghanistan, Rudrendra Tandon, along with 29 Embassy officials, 99 ITBP personnel and 21 civilians were brought here by an Indian Air Force aircraft.

Again on August 22, around 400 passengers were evacuated in three different flights, which included two ex-Afghan lawmakers and two Nepalese citizens.

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