They include a Sikh community leader Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was kidnapped and later released. The External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi appreciated Afghan government’s efforts in extending necessary support for their safe return.
MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had last week said that there has been a recent spurt of attacks on the Hindu and Sikh communities in Afghanistan and these attacks have been done by terrorists at the behest of their external supporters. He said, the MEA has been receiving requests from the members of these communities to move to India and settle down here. He said, Indian Embassy in Kabul is providing them with the necessary visas to come here.
India had earlier expressed concern at the “targeting and persecution” of minority community members in Afghanistan by terrorists. Concerns among Afghanistan’s Sikh minority have increased after the terror attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul in March that left 25 people dead and several others injured.