JOIN USNearly 400 Indians may soon be ferried from Aden port in Yemen to Djibouti in Horn of Africa.
New Delhi has deployed both civilian and military ships and aircraft in the region to launch large-scale evacuation of the country’s citizens caught up in escalating conflict in Yemen. The Indian Air Force has deployed two C-17 Globemaster aircraft to bring back evacuees after their arrival in Djibouti.
The government has also pressed into service five ships—three from the Navy and two merchant vessels—to evacuate over 3,000 Indians from Yemen. Two Air India aircraft were stationed at Muscat in Oman, awaiting clearances to fly to Sana’a to airlift Indians from the Yemeni capital city as well as other neighbouring areas of the country, said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin on Monday.
The biggest hurdle for New Delhi’s efforts is that the airspace of the conflict-hit country was not open for civilian planes throughout Monday. Besides, most Indians in Yemen—mostly nurses—had had to deposit their passports with their employers, and are now finding it difficult to get them back.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday chaired two meetings at the MEA headquarters in New Delhi, reviewing the situation and exploring options for early evacuation of citizens.
Indian Air Force chief Air Marshal Arup Raha, and senior officials from Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Shipping and Air India attended one of the meetings.