At that time, most of Afghanistan, including the Kandahar airport where the hijacked plane landed, was under Taliban control. Initially it was thought that the Taliban was on the Indian side, but later it became apparent that they were working in collaboration with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Taliban militiamen fighters encircled the aircraft to prevent any Indian military intervention, which was found by current National Security Advisor Ajit Doval when he landed there. They also found two ISI men were on the apron and others soon joined them; one was a lieutenant colonel and the other a major. Doval said that if the Taliban hijackers did not have ISI support, India could have resolved the crisis.