BackNarendra Modi thanks Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan rescues 11 Indians
PM Modi's tweets followed the arrival of the 11 Indians in New Delhi by a special Pakistan Air Force plane
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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday thanked his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for rescuing 11 Indian nationals from war-torn Yemen as well and sending them back home by a special aircraft.
“I welcome our 11 citizens who’ve returned from Yemen with assistance from Pakistan. Thank you PM Nawaz Sharif for your humanitarian gesture," Modi tweeted. “Service to humanity knows no borders. Glad we helped many countries in evacuation from Yemen," he said in another post.
The tweets followed the arrival of the 11 Indians in New Delhi by a special Pakistan Air Force plane, according to pictures sent by the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi. The Indians were taken from Yemen to Karachi by the Pakistani Navy ship Aslat on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s high commissioner Abdul Basit received the 11 Indians at the airport and presented them flowers, a statement from the Pakistan High Commission on Wednesday added.
Foreign secretary S. Jaishankar described Pakistan’s gesture as “very generous. “They have taken great trouble to do something and we need to appreciate that. I would also add that in adversity, everybody’s best side has come forward. You find actually different countries helping out people irrespective of nationality," Jaishankar told reporters at a press briefing in New Delhi. “In our own case, we have actually helped more than 400 people... from 32 countries," he said, adding that India had evacuated nationals of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar besides Pakistan.
Fighting has erupted in Yemen in recent weeks with the mainly Shia Houthi rebels ranged against a Sunni coalition backed by regional Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, alarmed by the growing strength of the Iran-allied Houthis on its southern doorstep, launched air strikes in a coalition made up mainly of four Gulf Arab allies against the Houthis nearly two weeks ago. The Houthi fighters and soldiers loyal to former president Ali Abullah Saleh took over Sanaa in September and last month launched an advance on the southern city of Aden, stronghold of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. He has now fled the country and is based in Saudi Arabia.
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