Twelve Indians were evacuated Thursday as part of the ongoing operation.
New Delhi:
Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar posted on social media platform X that India has launched “Operation Indravati” to evacuate its nationals from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.
Twelve Indians were evacuated Thursday as part of the ongoing operation.
Jaishankar posted through his official X account, “12 Indians evacuated today. Fully committed to the safety and welfare of our nationals overseas.”
India begins Operation Indrawati to evacuate its nationals from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.
Twelve Indians were evacuated today. Fully committed to the safety and welfare of our nationals overseas.
Thank you to the Government of the Dominican Republic for your support. pic.twitter.com/AC3VM63EmJ
–PhD. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) March 21, 2024
“Thank you to the Government of the Dominican Republic for your support,” he added.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly press briefing on March 15 that India was ready to evacuate citizens from Haiti if needed.
“As you know, there is a crisis going on in Haiti. If necessary, we will evacuate. We are ready to evacuate. If necessary, we will do so,” Jaiswal said.
A control room and emergency helpline were activated to evacuate embattled Indian nationals from Haiti amid violence and looting in the impoverished Caribbean country.
“We have set up a control room in the Ministry of External Affairs. We have an emergency helpline number,” Jaiswal added at a press conference.
On concerns over the safety of Indian nationals in Haiti, Jaiswal said the Dominican Republic’s embassy in Santo Domingo, which has Haiti accreditation, is monitoring the situation.
“Our embassy in Santo Domingo is monitoring the situation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also monitoring the situation comprehensively,” Jaiswal added at the press conference.
According to CNN, Haiti has entered a state of emergency after some armed groups attacked the country’s largest prison in Port-au-Prince earlier this month, causing casualties among police and prison staff and causing about 3,500 prisoners to escape.
The leader of one of the armed groups, Jimmy “Grill” Cherizil, took credit for the escape, saying it was part of a plan to overthrow the government of acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Armed groups currently control 80% of Haiti’s capital, according to United Nations estimates, while fighting continues for the remaining areas. While Henry was abroad, gangs surrounded the country’s main airport to prevent him from returning.
The ongoing chaos has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, adding to the more than 300,000 already displaced by gang violence.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
