Asserting that New Delhi has launched a national endeavour to ensure the safe return of those stranded in Yemen, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said 400 Indian nationals are being evacuated from Aden by the sea route.
“We have previously made three announcements requesting Indian nations to leave Yemen as soon as possible. Yet approximately 4000 Indian nationals remain in the conflict zone in Yemen. We have launched a national endeavour to ensure their safe return back to India. As a first step today, 400 Indian nationals are being evacuated from Aden by the sea route,” MEA official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said at a press conference.
Akbaruddin said that services of a local ship will be utilised to move the Indian nationals from Aden to Djibouti where they would be assisted by the MEA officials in their return.
“We are stationing three to five diplomatic officials of the MEA to assist in the return. From Djibouti, we will bring our nationals back by air. The Indian Air Force is being requested to deploy two D-17 globemaster aircrafts so that they can ferry all those who are in Djibouti back home,” he added.
Akbaruddin further Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) VK Singh will be flying to Djibouti to oversee the operations from there.
“Air India has stationed two flights in Muscat, these will be utilised as appropriate, given the circumstances that are evolving in the region,” Akbaruddin said.
He said that the services of INS Sumitra would also be utilised to ensure the safety of Indian nationals, who will be repatriated via sea.
“The Indian Navy is pressing into service with two additional ships INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash. This morning, two passenger liners with a total capacity of 1,100 have left Indian waters and are travelling towards Yemen,” he said.
“As and when it becomes possible to utilise air services through Sanaa, we will press Air India flights to Sanaa to assist the Indian nationals in that region,” he added.
Saudi-led coalition war planes have struck pro-Iranian rebels in Yemen with the Islamic kingdom threatening to send ground troops which could potentially initiate a broader sectarian conflict in the Middle East.
Earlier, Houthi rebels backed by allied army units seized Yemen’s largest al-Anad air base on Wednesday from forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
The Security Council had also released a statement expressing unanimous support to President Hadi, who has sought refuge in the southern port city of Aden after fleeing the capital Sanaa in February.
Instability has steadily been rising in the nation, where al-Qaeda and Islamic State sympathisers also pose a threat. (ANI)