New Delhi: India on Thursday chartered ships to evacuate its nationals in strife-torn Libya and they have set sail from Egypt and is also considered dispatching three naval warships including its largest amphibious vessel INS Jalashwa.
Given "the sharp and unprecedented deterioration" in the situation in the North African country witnessing anti-government protests for over a week, Government decided to immediately commence evacuation of Indians and has sent a ship from Egypt to Libyan port of Benghazi to ferry the first batch of 1,200 people. A second ship with smaller capacity is also being sent.
People with medical emergency, women and children will be given priority to board the ships.
An estimated 18,000 Indian nationals live in the oil-rich nation where over 300 people have been killed so far in the crackdown against anti-government protesters.
The Government is also expecting landing permission for its aircraft soon and therefore, has kept aircraft on stand by to back up the evacuation by sea.
"Evacuation is being arranged by sea and air. Government has chartered a passenger ferry with capacity to seat 1,200 persons for this purpose. The ship, "Scotia Prince", is already in Egypt and readying for sail to Benghazi which will be the initial focus of the evacuation operations," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement here.
The Indian population also included nearly 4,000 staff of some major construction companies with operations in Libya, including DS Construction, Simlex, Unitech and Punj Lloyd.
Representatives of some of these companies met Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao yesterday to discuss the situation.
"....all Indians are safe and all those Indians who are willing to be evacuated will be evacuated safely and without any expenditure incurred by them," External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said.
MEA personnel and medical team will be on board to assist the evacuees, the statement said, adding "SCOTIA PRINCE is expected to reach Benghazi by Sunday and bring back at least 1,200 persons to Alexandria (Egypt) by March 1. They would be flown home from Alexandria thereafter, by special Air India flights, which are being arranged."
"Primary evacuation focus will be on medical emergency cases, women and children," Rao said.
The Indian Navy has decided to dispatch three naval warships including its largest amphibious vessel INS Jalashwa to evacuate its citizens stranded in Libya.
"We have sent a proposal to the Defence Ministry to send three warships including two destroyers and the INS Jalashwa to Libya to bring back around 18,000 Indians stuck there," Navy sources said here.
"The final decision on sending the warships on the 7,000 miles voyage to Tripoli would be taken at the highest-level by the Defence Ministry in consultation with the External Affairs Ministry (EAM)," they added.
If the ships are ordered to move towards Libya, it will take them at least 10 days to reach their destination.
The Defence Ministry had yesterday received a request from the EAM to see if it could help in bringing back Indian citizens from there.
Officials said there were a number of issues including facilitating the entry of Indian vessels into Libyan harbour were also being considered by the Government.
The Jalshwa is the largest available ship with the Indian Navy, which can be used for carrying out humanitarian efforts of this kind.
The warship is usually deployed in Vishakapatanam under the Eastern naval Command but was deployed in Mumbai on the western seaboard for taking part in the TROPEX exercise
In Tripoli, the Government's focus will be on air evacuation, the statement said, adding that aircraft are on stand by for this purpose as Libyan landing clearance is awaited and should be received soon.
"Preparations are also in hand for evacuation of our nationals from cities in the interior where air access is possible subject to Libyan clearance," the ministry said.
Indian companies, many of whom are based in Libya for decades, have also offered to work with the Indian Embassy in Tripoli in facilitating evacuation, he said.
MEA is also coordinating closely with other Ministries including Defence, Overseas Indian Affairs and Shipping in making evacuation arrangements.
Round-the-clock situation rooms in MEA and the Indian Mission in Tripoli are functioning smoothly and addressing queries from families of our citizens in Libya.
"Our Embassies in Egypt and Tunisia are also alert to the situation and extending all assistance," the ministry said.
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