New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) An Indian naval ship was waiting to leave the Yemeni port of Al Hodeidah, on the western coast, to ferry another batch of more than 300 Indian nationals out of the strife-torn Gulf country as 358 Indians were flown back to India on Thursday.
According to defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar, the second batch of Indian nationals have been told to assemble in Al Hodeidah to wait for INS Sumitra, which was awaiting clearance from the local Yemeni authorities to enter the port.
Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, who is in Djibouti since Tuesday to coordinate the evacuation operations with the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, met Djibouti Foreign Minister Mohamoud Ali Youssouf to thank him.
All Indian nationals have been taken by sea from Yemen to Djibouti, which is on the Horn of Africa, from where they are being flown back to India on board Globemaster transport planes.
“Diplomacy in support of evacuation efforts, MoS @Gen_VKSingh thanks Foreign Minister Mohamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti,” tweeted external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
In the early morning hours of Thursday, 358 Indians arrived safely back in India, at Kochi and Mumbai airports, after being evacuated from Yemen.
One C-17 Globemaster ferried 190 Indians to Mumbai on Thursday while another 168 went to Kochi in Kerala.
Fighting has been raging in Yemen since January 22 when the government under President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was ousted by Shia Houthi militia. Saudi Arabia has been heading air strikes on Yemen with a coalition of 10 countries.
Of the 350 Indians evacuated, 206 belong to Kerala, 40 are from Tamil Nadu, 31 from Maharashtra, 23 from West Bengal, 22 from Delhi, 15 from Karnataka and 13 from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, according to tweets by Akbaruddin.
Two warships — destroyer INS Mumbai and stealth frigate INS Tarkash — are also on their way to Djibouti as part of an operation named “Op Raahat”.
India has also agreed to requests from neighbours Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to assist in evacuation of their nationals from Yemen.