Indian ambassador thanks Qatar for supporting Afghan evacuation efforts

Qatar has been playing a crucial role in Afghanistan following last month's withdrawal of US forces, helping evacuate thousands of foreigners and Afghans, engaging the new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul airport.

Indian ambassador to Qatar Dr Deepak Mittal on Tuesday met Qatar's foreign minister Lolwah Alkhater and thanked her for the support to people being evacuated from Afghanistan. Dr Mittal also met the evacuees from Afghanistan and interacted with them in Qatar.

Indian ambassador Dr Deepak Mittal interacting with Afghan evacuees in Qatar on Tuesday. (Twitter/@IndEmbDoha)

"Ambassador met H. E. Assistant Foreign Minister @Lolwah_AlKhater n expressed deep appreciation for her personal efforts to support Afghan evacuees.He thanked Qatar for continuing efforts to facilitate safe passage to foreign nationals including Indians from Afgh," Indian embassy in Qatar said on Twitter.

Dr Mittal assumed charge as Ambassador of India to Qatar on August 6, 2020. He has served in Bangladesh, Egypt and Israel in various capacities and as Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Doha has been playing a crucial role in Afghanistan following last month's withdrawal of US forces, helping evacuate thousands of foreigners and Afghans, engaging the new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul airport.

Since the US pullout, Qatar Airways planes have made several trips to Kabul, flying in aid and Doha's representatives and ferrying out foreign passport holders.

The United States pulled its final troops out of Afghanistan on August 30, ending its longest war just ahead of the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks that prompted its invasion.

Afghanistan plunged into crisis last month after Kabul fell to the Taliban and the democratically elected government of former president Ashraf Ghani collapsed.