NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2021) The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday unveiled new rules for Afghans entering the country, saying they can only travel to India using electronic visas.
"Owing to the prevailing security situation in Afghanistan and streamlining of the visa process by introduction of the e-Emergency X-Misc visa, it has been decided that all Afghan nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-Visa," the ministry said in a statement.
In light of reports of some Afghan nationals' passports loss, visas previously issued to all Afghans, who are not currently in India, are to be invalidated with immediate effect, the ministry added.
A source in the Indian government told Sputnik that the decision was made after Afghan passports with Indian visas were stolen from a travel agency in Kabul in a raid by a group backed by the Pakistani intelligence. In an attempt to thwart a major security threat � these passports allegedly may be used by Pakistani militant groups to infiltrate into India � New Delhi canceled all visas previously issued to Afghans.
The Taliban (designated terrorist by the UN and Russia) seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, causing the civilian government to collapse. This prompted thousands of locals to seek escape for fear of reprisals from the militants. Many countries have since begun evacuating their diplomatic missions and citizens from the Central Asian nation.
