S Jaishankar, Anthony Blinken Discuss Afghanistan Coordination On Call

India operated four consulates in Afghanistan, besides the embassy in Kabul. Apart from Kandahar and Herat, India also had a consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif

The US and India will continue to work closely on Afghanistan and the United Nations, the US State Department said in a statement after a meeting between Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. "Secretary of State Antony J Blinken spoke today with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. They discussed a broad range of shared priorities, including continued coordination on Afghanistan and in the United Nations. Secretary Blinken and Minister Jaishankar agreed to remain closely coordinated on shared goals and priorities to deepen the US-India partnership," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. The deadline for the airlift operations from Kabul airport is August 31. India on Friday said that the exact number of its citizens remaining in war-torn Afghanistan was unknown. The Ministry of External Affairs believes it has evacuated most who wanted to return while some are still around. Several nations including the UK and Spain have ended evacuation flights from Kabul airport, a day after a suicide bombing targeted throngs of Afghans gathered outside the airport in hopes of fleeing the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.