India has won many friends by
evacuating nearly 1,000 nationals of 41 countries, including those from
Britain, France and USA, along with 4600 of their own citizens from the war-torn
Yemen. The
political crisis in Yemen has escalated in recent months, with the country’s
capital being taken over by the Iran-backed Shiite rebel group, Yemen’s president
Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi having fled the country and Saudi Arabia launching air
strikes leaving hundreds dead and injured.
The massive rescue effort was
personally monitored by the Indian External Affairs State Minister General
(Retd.) VK Singh and carried on with seamless
co-operation between the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force,
Air India and Shipping & Railways Ministries. The week long massive rescue
effort nicknamed ‘Operation Rahat’ (Rescue)
was completed on 8th April, 2015. The operation was followed up closely on twitter and other
social fora with updates being provided by Indian foreign office and Prime Minister’s
Office.
The
evacuation from Yemen also provided a rare chance for the arch-rivals India and
Pakistan to look beyond hostilities, as on one hand 11 Indians were evacuated
by the Pakistani navy, three Pakistanis were rescued by the Indian Air force.
Meanwhile, in
a strange turn of events, 41 Americans stranded in the war-torn Yemen have
filed a lawsuit against the US State and Defense Department for not initiating
any effort to evacuate them.
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