Ship to reach Libya by Saturday to rescue Indians

With the situation in Libya remaining volatile, the government on Tuesday said it was putting in place plans for a possible evacuation of Indians from the country. There are around 18,000 Indians in that country.

The government is awaiting clearance for landing of its aircraft and for ships to evacuate its nationals. "Just spoke to our Ambassador M Manimekalai in Tripoli. She awaits clearance for landing of our aircraft and for our ships" Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said in a tweet. 

Union Minister for Shipping GK Vasan ordered the diversion of ship coming from Athens to Tripoli to bring back stranded Indians. This ship is expected to reach Tripoli on Saturday morning. It will evacuate at least 1,000 Indians and will then head to India. The ship is expected to touch Mumbai by early march, say sources.

Vasan, who was aware of the ship sailing near Athens, informed the External Affair Ministry about the same, which asked the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing to press into action and locate the ship. One the ship was locate its captain was told to rush to Tripoli to rescue Indians.

"Our ambassador is in touch with our nurses in Benghazi. Regular civilian flights still operating in to and out of Tripoli, I understand," Rao said.

The Indian ambassador "is also in touch with our Indian community in smaller Libyan cities. She and our Mission are doing their very best," the foreign secretary said.

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the government was closely monitoring the situation in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain and inter-ministerial meetings have been held to take stock of the situation in the region.

"I have personally been in touch with our ambassadors in these countries and have conveyed that all measures should be taken for the safety and welfare of our nationals there," he said. He informed the House that the external affairs ministry and Indian embassies concerned have set up round-the-clock helplines for Indians.

With regard to Libya, where the situation continues to be volatile, Krishna said, "We are putting in place plans for a possible evacuation by land, air and sea." He noted that violent political protests are being witnessed in Libya as also Yemen and Bahrain, which have a significant Indian community, most of whom have gone there to earn their livelihood and have been contributing to the growth and development of the host country.

"Our embassies have been in close and regular contact with the Indian community," the minister said.

There are about 350,000 Indians in Bahrain and 14,000 in Yemen.Referring to Egypt, which also witnessed political upheaval recently, Krishna said upon request from the Indian community, three special flights were arranged by Air India, which carried around 670 Indians from Cairo to Mumbai.

"This was not evacuation and the government only facilitated the arrangement of special flights of Air India to Cairo which brought back Indians desirous of returning to India," he underlined.

With inputs from PTI