Yemen crisis: Indian forces adhered to responsibility given by PM Modi, says Gen VK Singh

Minister of State for External Affairs General (retired) V.K. Singh arrived in the national capital on Friday after wrapping up the evacuation task from war-torn Yemen and said the team has adhered to the responsibility given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

"On humanitarian grounds we are helping everybody. We have evacuated 5,500 Indians and over 1,000 foreign nationals. Apart from this, a few people are still coming out and our navy ships are there to bring them back. They are mostly foreigners," Singh said.

"There were many challenges. The conditions are such that it was difficult to rescue people but that was our task. The Prime Minister and EAM Sushma Swaraj gave the responsibility and we adhered to it. The results are in front of you," he added.

The minister further confirmed that the rescue air operations had ended yesterday.

"There is war all around. An airstrike was taking place near Sana'a (Yemen) and we were asked to return back... Somehow we got permission but faced a lot of challenges," Singh said.

"Today we have brought 110 people in my aircraft from Djibouti. But some Indians don't want to come, so we can't help that," he added.

The Ministry of External Affairs has stated that the evacuation of Indian nationals from Yemen is finally over and the Indian embassy there will be closed soon.

This came after the rescue of over 630 people from Sana'a in Yemen by three special Air India flights.

The total number of Indians evacuated from Sana'a by air has crossed 2,900 by 18 special flights since the beginning of the air operations.

Indian naval vessels have also evacuated over 1,670 Indians from Aden, Al Hudaydah and Al Mukalla ports in Yemen since March 31.

Indian Naval Ship INS Sumitra evacuated 349 persons, including 46 Indians and 303 foreign nationals from Al Hudaydah port on April 9.

The entire evacuation effort has resulted in the evacuation of over 5,600 persons. These include Indian nationals and foreign nationals from 41 different countries.