So now India too.

After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, the government in New Delhi withdrew its embassy staff from Kabul.

"In view of the prevailing circumstances, it was decided that our ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will be brought to India immediately," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Till Fähnders

Political Correspondent for Southeast Asia.

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According to Indian press reports, a military plane with 140 embassy staff, security forces and some media representatives flew out of Kabul on Tuesday morning.

The plane had been on the tarmac since the day before.

Due to the chaotic conditions and the temporary closure of the airport to civilian air traffic, India first had to interrupt the return operation on Monday.

India surprised by events

The Indian consulates in other Afghan cities had long been closed and their employees flown out. Another military transporter had already fetched 40 Indian citizens back early Monday. India is apparently planning more flights to bring the last remaining Indians stuck there and some Afghan refugees from Kabul. India wants to give priority to a few hundred Afghan Hindus and Sikhs who face persecution under the rule of the Taliban. India has also promised aid to Afghans involved in Indian projects.

The government in New Delhi had worked well with the now-fled government. India has invested a total of three billion dollars in development projects such as schools, roads and dams. The future of these investments is now at risk. The developments in Afghanistan, like many other countries, came as a shock to India.

The government in New Delhi fears that Pakistan and China could gain influence in Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban. She also expects terrorist groups that have carried out attacks in the past, particularly in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, to gain traction. Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India and has been the cause of armed conflicts on several occasions. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of assisting and sheltering the terrorists.

India is also concerned about how China has forged ties with the Taliban.

Beijing was one of the first governments to announce on Monday that it was "ready for friendly relations with the Taliban".

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met a Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in July.

Almost at the same time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was received in New Delhi.

Relations between India and China have been strained since Chinese troops, according to Indian accounts, crossed the Himalayan border between the two countries.

This led to serious clashes on several occasions, during which Indian and Chinese soldiers were also killed.

India did not seek talks with the Taliban until late

In New Delhi, many find it bitter irony that India must now live with the consequences of the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan. The move should also enable the American armed forces, together with their allies in the region, to concentrate more on strategic competition with China in the Indo-Pacific region. In fact, India is given a central role in these efforts.

India has little confidence in the Taliban's promise not to tolerate any more terrorist groups in its territory.

Rather, it expects Afghanistan to increasingly offer terrorists a safe haven again.

Militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are also said to have been involved in the Taliban's offensives in recent weeks.

They had carried out serious attacks on Indian targets in the past.

The Hindu newspaper reported on Tuesday that fighters from these groups and the terrorist militia “Islamic State” had already entered Kabul in the wake of the Taliban.

India is likely to find it difficult to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government.

It also took New Delhi longer than the Americans, China and Russia to get into conversation with the Taliban.

Nevertheless, India has an important role to play in the international response to the situation in Afghanistan. The country belongs to the Shanghai cooperation organization, of which China and Pakistan are also members, and to which Afghanistan has observer status. India is also a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and chairs the UN Taliban Sanctions Committee.