People evacuated from Yemen seated in an IAF C-17 Globemaster-III at Djibouti on April 3, 2015.
Yemen, a strife-torn country struggling due to the war between the Houthi rebels and Pro Government forces backed by Soudi-led coalition, has become a living nightmare for its citizens. Such was the condition that the respective countries have to take the stand and come up to rescue their nationals who were temporarily staying in Yemen. The first country who got succeeded in this highly risky evacuation attempt was India. To date, it has been able to rescue 3500 Indians from different corners of Yemen notwithstanding its grave situation.
Codenamed “Operation Raahat”, the mission was aimed to bring back the Indians from war-torn Yemen. More than 3000 Indians are already home and the rest will be brought in a day or two. The move has surely brought ‘raahat’ to the citizens who once might have thought that they will never be able to see or live another day.
Exceeding the expectations of people and countries that thought it to be a mission too difficult to even contemplate, India has now set an example of being the first and the only country to pull out all its citizens from a war-stricken nation. The incredible feat of evacuating Indians has brought in praises from around the world for conducting such an operation in a highly volatile situation.
Launch of the operation
The discreetly planned operation was launched in the last week of march when the Indian Navy sent its warships INS Sumatra, INS Tarkash, and INS Mumbai. Two Airbus A320’s and a Boeing 777 has also been used so far in the evacuation process.
Evacuation Request from 26 other Nations
The success of the mission has surely elevated the administrative capabilities of India and this can be judged from the fact that nearly 26 different countries, including developed nations like Germany, France, and USA has sought India’s help in evacuating their nationals from Yemen. It was a highly catastrophic situation and what India has achieved is absolutely exemplary.
Considering their request, India was able to evacuate 232 nationals of almost all its neighbors, also including US, France, Sweden, Germany, etc., from Yemen, which is now entirely under the control of Al-Quaida.
It is indeed a proud moment for every Indian! Hats off to the lionhearted Indian Navy and our equally braveheart PM.