India’s efforts under Operation Raahat to bring stranded nationals out of Yemen moved closer towards completion as Monday saw the largest evacuation with over 1,000 people moved out of Yemen to Djibouti.
While three Air India flights flew 574 passengers out of Sana’a, INS Mumbai evacuated 474 from Al Hudaydah port, officials informed.
Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar praised the armed forces for their smooth rescue in a “volatile situation” and “without any casualty.”
With intense fighting under way across Yemen, India made Djibouti the nodal point for all evacuation efforts and pressed in four Air India aircraft, three Air Force C-17 Globemasters, three Naval ships and two commercial liners for this effort. So far over 3,000 have been evacuated out of Yemen and over 2,000 of them have been brought back to India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State General V.K. Singh (Retd.), for co-ordinating evacuation efforts. “Seamless co-operation between organisations — Ministry of External Affairs, Navy, Air Force, Air India, Shipping, Railways and State Governments greatly helped in rescue work,” he said in a statement. Mr. Modi also lauded the rescue of foreign nationals which he said reflects “India’s ethos” to help others in distress. Over 200 foreign nationals have been evacuated along with Indian nationals and Ms. Swaraj tweeted that 23 countries have requested India to evacuate their citizens.
