BENGALURU: A day after the External Affairs Ministry set up helplines and said it would repatriate Hindus and Sikhs who want to leave Afghanistan, Janata Dal Secular supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Tuesday appealed to the Union Government to respond in a “humane manner” to the
situation there. He said news reports emerging from Afghanistan show the kind of fear and uncertainty gripping that country.
“It is a difficult moment for India and the entire region. We have to respond in a humane manner, besides developing an independent policy of fostering friendship and peace in our neighbourhood,” Gowda tweeted on Tuesday. The statement from the JDS patriarch comes on a day India managed to fly
out the Indian Ambassador and the Embassy staff from Kabul to Jamnagar in Gujarat.
“We are in constant touch with the Sikh and Hindu community leaders in Kabul. Their welfare will get our priority attention,” tweeted India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar even as efforts were underway in coordination with countries like France and the US to repatriate Indian nationals from Afghanistan.