LEAD

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in which India’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Rudrendra Tandon, among those evacuated from Kabul Tuesday, was also present.

As India prepares itself for the reality of a Taliban-governed Afghanistan again, it is assessing its strategic policy given that both Pakistan and China will move to exercise influence over the next regime in Kabul.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in which India’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Rudrendra Tandon, among those evacuated from Kabul Tuesday, was also present.

US President Biden has defended the US withdrawal from Afghanistan as thousands of desperate people try to flee the country following the Taliban seizure of power.

He warned the Taliban Monday not to disrupt or threaten the evacuation of thousands of American diplomats and Afghan translators at the Kabul airport.

The response to any attack would be "swift and forceful," Biden said in a televised address from the White House. 

"We will defend our people with devastating force if necessary," he said.

Afghanistan stands on the brink of a Taliban takeover on Sunday with the insurgents entering Kabul after Ashraf Ghani reportedly resigned as president and fled the country. Ghani left along with his National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib and a second close associate. While it wasn't immediately clear where they went, some reports claimed their destination was Tajikistan.

Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, confirming the development, said: “The former president of Afghanistan left Afghanistan, leaving the country in this difficult situation," Abdullah said. "God should hold him accountable.”

A new interim government is set to take over soon. There are no reports of vice-president Amrullah Salleh leaving the country.

New Delhi: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, hours after the Bombay High Court ruled that the state governor was duty-bound to decide on the MLC nominations within "reasonable time". The Raj Bhavan, however, termed the meeting that took place on Friday evening as a "courtesy call".

The delay by Koshyari in taking a decision on the proposal sent by the Maharashtra cabinet to nominate 12 persons as Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) from his quota has become a major bone of contention between him and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress in the state.

The Navy on Friday cancelled the unfurling of the national flag at Sao Jacinto Island in south Goa after residents said they did not want the Central or state government to carry out any activities on the island due to their distrust of the authorities.

This year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, India will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day on Sunday, 15 August. The day reminds every citizen of the sacrifices that many freedom fighters made to get independence from British rule.

The islanders, however, made it clear that they were not opposed to the unfurling of the flag, and would hoist the Tricolour themselves.