Afghanistan FM meets Indian-envoy; assures safety, release of abducted Indians
What's the story
Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani has met new Indian envoy to the country Vinay Kumar and assured him that Afghan security forces will not spare any effort to ensure the safety and release of seven Indian engineers abducted by the Taliban gunmen in the restive northern Baghlan province. He said that efforts have been initiated through the community elders to help secure their release.
Information
Rabbani had a telephonic conversation with Sushma Swaraj
Rabbani also had a telephone conversation with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj regarding the abduction of the seven Indian engineers of KEC International, an RPG group company. Swaraj had conveyed India's concerns about abducted Indians and requested him for help in tracing and freeing them.
Abduction
Indian engineers were abducted by militants
The abducted Indian engineers were working on a project for the construction of a power sub-station. They were abducted by the militants from the vicinity of Cheshma-e-Sher area on Sunday while they were going to inspect the work on the project. An eyewitness said that he saw a number of armed men stopping a white colored car on Pul-i-Khumri-Mazar-i-Sharif highway.
Another kidnaping
Militants had abducted a 40-year-old Indian woman in 2016
The eyewitness didn't know how many people were in the car, but said militants took Indian nationals to their minibus type vehicle and sped towards areas under their control. In 2016, 40-year-old Indian aid worker Judith D'Souza was kidnapped in Kabul. She was released after 40 days. India has provided at least $2bn aid to Afghanistan for the economic development of the war-torn nation.
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India-Afghanistan discussed political priorities
Both the sides discussed and exchanged views on political priorities of Afghanistan such as the peace process, elections, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and the projects being implemented through Indian support in Afghanistan.