NEW DELHI, Apr 20:
India had evacuated 4,741 of its nationals and 1,947 foreigners from war-torn Yemen till April 18 under the operation ‘Raahat’, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in the Lok Sabha today.
Making a suo motu statement on the “recent developments in the Republic of Yemen and efforts made for the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from there, Ms Swaraj said the evacuation operation of India had been a ‘’resounding success, well acknowledged by the international community.’’
She said after the successful conclusion of the evacuation process, the Indian embassy was relocated to Djibouti on April 15, and would continue to operate from there till situation returns to normalcy in Yemen.
Ms Swaraj said the embassy was among the handful of foreign missions operational in Sana after the air strikes began.
India received formal requests from 33 countries, including from neighbouring and western countries, for assistance in evacuation of their nationals.
“We responded positively to these requests to the extent possible based on ground realities and helped nationals of 48 countries in evacuation,’’ she added.
The countries which India assisted were Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Canada, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Maldives, Morocco, Myanmar, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Somalia, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, the UK, Uzbekistan, the US, the UAE, Uganda, Ukraine and Yemen. This received worldwide appreciation, she added. More (UNI)