What are India’s immediate priorities in Afghanistan

New Delhi, Aug 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a high level group in view of the ongoing developments in Afghanistan. The high level group comprises National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar and other senior officials.

The top focus of the group would be India's immediate priorities in Afghanistan. The immediate priority for India would be the evacuation of its nationals, many of who are still stranded in Afghansitan, which was taken over by Pakistan.

Another major priority would be to ensure that the Afghan soil is not used against India for any terror attacks. This is crucial in the backdrop of the meeting that the leaders of the Jaish-e-Mohammad had with the Taliban.

Indian Intelligence agencies have said that groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are likely to use Afghan soil to launch attacks and also regroup. The Taliban is likely to shelter these elements who pose a direct threat to India, sources tell OneIndia.

An official informed that India continues to keep a close watch on the developments in Kabul. New Delhi is also waiting for a formal government to be place in place so that the channels for talks could be opened up. However the assessment shows that this is unlikely to take place at least till the end of this year. As we wait for the developments to unfold, our top concerns would be the evacuation of our nationals, the minorities and also ensuring that the Taliban does not provide a safe haven for terrorists to launch attacks against India.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that a consensus government would be formed in the coming days. We expect that a consensus government would be formed soon, he also said.