India rescues 1,000 nationals from Yemen

New Delhi: India on Monday evacuated about 1,000 of its nationals from war-ravaged Yemen, the largest number since the government started rescue operations about a week ago, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said.

With this, the exercise has entered its final stages with the total numbers of those rescued standing at more than 3,000, ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the “seamless” efforts of the Indian navy, air force and the foreign ministry in accomplishing the task.

“Salute the services of our civilian & defence officials & organisations in helping evacuate our citizens from Yemen. Continue your efforts,” Modi tweeted.

According to a post on foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s Twitter account, 24 countries have requested India for assistance in evacuating their nationals from Yemen. These include France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia and Maldives, Akbaruddin said.

Modi said he was “glad that India has rescued several non-Indian citizens from Yemen....Our evacuation efforts in Yemen reflect willingness to serve our people & readiness to help others in distress, which is India’s ethos.”

Yemen has seen fierce fighting in recent days with a Saudi-led coalition force failing to halt the advance of the Iran-allied Houthis towards Aden.

Street fighting and heavy shelling has for several days torn through the city, the last bastion of support for Saudi-backed president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Reuters contributed to this report.