New Delhi: India is firming up plans for possible sea and air evacuation of some 3,500 Indians stuck in war-torn Yemen.
Sources say India wants to evacuate its nationals from the Yemeni port of Al Hodeida. But the plan depends on the security situation on the ground.
Al-Hodaida, on the Red Sea is Yemen's fourth largest city, but like most of the country, is under rebel Shia Houthi control.
Sources have told NDTV that the plan is to get Indians from the capital Sana'a to Al-Hodeida and then take them by sea or air across the Red Sea to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, after which they will be flown to India.
Sources say that the first step will be to move an Indian Naval ship to Al-Hodeida. There are always naval ships in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations, and one of them could be the first to respond to a government order. There is also at least one Indian naval ship further south in the Indian Ocean near Seychelles.
About 2,500 Indians are estimated to be in or near the capital Sana'a. Earlier this week, the Foreign Ministry issued its third advisory this year for Indians to leave the country.
A Saudi Arabian-led Sunni Arab coalition of 10 countries is in its second day of airstrikes against the Shia Houthi group, which has taken over most of Yemen and forced the President Abed Rabbo Mansour to escape to Riyadh.
President Mansour is expected to attend an Arab summit over the weekend where a plan to use ground troops may be approved. A Saudi Arabian led Sunni Arab coalition of ten countries is in its second day of airstrikes in Yemen.