On Sunday, seven Indian engineers working in Afghanistan were kidnapped allegedly by the Taliban from the northern part of the landlocked country. As reported in Economic Times, in a bid to rescue them India’s NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale visited Moscow to meet their Russian counterparts along with other senior officials from the Russian government.
Russia reportedly has many connections in the Afghan nation and especially the Taliban. Thus, India is also approaching Russia other than the U.S to find a solution to this impending crisis. The Afghan issue will be among the topics to be discussed, it is expected that the issue of Indian import of Russian defence equipment amidst U.S sanctions and the plausible ramifications of U.S pulling out of Iran deal on Indo-Russia interests as well as Chabahar Port and INSTC will also be taken up during this visit.
NSA Ajit Doval has also reportedly spoken to his Afghan counterpart Hanif Atmar on negotiating the release of kidnapped Indian nationals. As reported by ET, a spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry, Raveesh Kumar stated, “We are in touch with different people who are involved in the exercise through the Afghan government.”
Suspected Taliban militants abducted seven Indian workers in the northern province of Baghlan on Sunday. They were snatched from the car along with their Afghan driver and while no one has taken responsibility for the kidnapping yet, it is believed the kidnapping was carried out by the Taliban.