Owaisi To Attend MEA Briefing On Afghanistan For Parliamentary Floor Leaders

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday informed that he has received an invitation for the meeting of floor leaders of political parties in Parliament for a briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs on the situation of Afghanistan.

Owaisi informed about the development in a telephonic conversation with ANI.
Earlier on Monday, Owaisi had said on Twitter that he is expecting an invite for the meeting.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday tweeted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed the foreign ministry to brief floor leaders of political parties.

“In view of developments in Afghanistan, PM @narendramodi has instructed that MEA brief Floor Leaders of political parties. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs @JoshiPralhad will be intimating further details,” tweeted Jaishankar.

Sharing that post, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Patel gave details of the meeting scheduled to be held on Thursday.

“Floor Leaders of Political Parties would be briefed by EAM @DrSJaishankar on the present situation in Afghanistan, on 26th August, 11 am in Main Committee Room, PHA, New Delhi. Invites are being sent through email. All concerned are requested to attend,” said Patel in a tweet yesterday.

Responding to Patel’s post, Owaisi tweeted, “Sir I hope AIMIM will also be invited.”

This comes at a time when the Indian government is evacuating its citizens from the war-ravaged country in wake of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.

On August 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and instructed all concerned officials to undertake all necessary measures to ensure the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from Afghanistan in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the MEA has said the government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan. The MEA said that the main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of the Kabul airport.

India on Sunday brought back nearly 400 people on three different flights. Another group of 87 Indians and two Nepalese nationals were brought back in a special Air India flight from Dushanbe, a day after they were evacuated to the Tajikistan capital in an IAF aircraft.

Separately, 135 Indians evacuated from Kabul to Doha in the last few days by the US and NATO aircraft were flown back to Delhi on a special flight.

On August 15, the Taliban entered the presidential palace in the Afghan capital on Sunday and declared its victory over the government after months of violence in Afghanistan. (ANI)