Foreign Operations & Deployments

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ravip
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by ravip »

Aditya G wrote:I dont think the Globemasters have done a job that could not have been achieved by civvie Airbus/Boeings or IL-76s;

- None of the sorties exceeded 200 pax (~20 Tons)
- Did not land on short/rough airstrips
- Did not land in warzone so did not utilize fast climb capability
- All landings at sea level
- did not require air to air refueling
- nobody fired missiles on it

I am not disputing the strategic utility or technical parameters of these aircraft. Just that this operation is not a proof of the same.

If any weapon system was proven in the operation it was Saryu class OPV! Barely months post commissioning (and hence in warranty period), Sumitra was already running counter piracy ops when she was pulled into Yemen. Our sailors have done another fantastic job.

I am happy to see the strong response by GoI, though it seemed a touch delayed to me.
The point was regarding use of war fighting machines for civil rescue ops. I was not citing militaristic specifications to justify C-17 purchase. The point was about range of possibilities for which it could be used.
hnair
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by hnair »

JE Menon wrote:I'm super proud!!! We've come some way people. Remember, it's been only 60 odd years.
You know, if I am wearing two day old banyan and waiting at a dusty wharf in yonder Yemen, I would rather have a decorated para-trooper around, even if he is the vice-Foreign Minister..... he is a HUGE upgrade from that a-hole Vayalar Ravi of UPA-II, who is getting an earful from malayalees over in FB, drawing attention to the difference with Gen VKS-sir :lol:

Gawd, we need a few bench-pressing jernails, who can act as Indian pro-consuls* around the rim... 8)

_____________
* of course after a lateral entry via elections, unlike the undemocratic pro-consuls of khan :eek:
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by chilarai »

Great job done. Some credit should also go to Syed Akbaruddin (mea ) for keeping the nation informed by regular updates on Twitter. He is good, I remember how in one interview the reporter was trying put words into his mouth and he thrashed the reporter left and right !
arshyam
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by arshyam »

^^ Oh, absolutely. Mr. Akbaruddin has been very proactive in giving update on most MEA events. It was mentioned in a recent news article about his moving to his next role.

In the meantime, hear it from the public:



Source: MEA India
ldev
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by ldev »

An NDTV link provided on Syed Akbaruddin's twitter, the only special program covering the Yemen evacuation.
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/o ... o-featured
Abhay_S
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Abhay_S »

Part II of the video linked above

[youtube]ReCPcC7JDJU&feature[/youtube]

Source: MEA
Singha
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Singha »

TSP doing good deeds for a change...


11 Indians Rescued by Pakistan From Yemen


Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistan said on Saturday that it has evacuated 11 Indians along with 148 Pakistani citizens from strife-torn Yemen's southeastern city of Mokallah, which is now almost entirely under the control of al-Qaeda militants.

The Pakistan Naval Ship PNS Aslat has left for Pakistan after successfully evacuating 148 citizens and 35 foreigners, including 11 Indians, from Mokallah, Pakistan's Foreign Office said.

The PNS Aslat, despatched earlier, arrived in Mokallah on Friday. The roads leading to the port had been closed.

"Therefore, through a discreetly planned exercise, the operation was switched to nearby Ash Shihr port and 148 Pakistanis have been safely evacuated, earlier today," a statement from Pakistan's foreign office said.

"35 other foreign nationals also requiring emergency evacuation are on board. These include 8 Chinese, 11 Indians and 4 British citizens. The ship will arrive in Karachi on April 7," the statement said.

Mokallah, the capital of Yemen's south-eastern Hadramawt province, was now almost entirely under control of terrorists of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), after they stormed a jail and freed 300 inmates a few days ago.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Singha »

the lungi seems universal garb of the houthi militia. ideal garment for the heat there. hard to believe these rag tag lungi clad warriors have over run most of a large country
their weapons and vehicles are well below the iraqi shia militia level.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Nikhil T »

chilarai wrote:Great job done. Some credit should also go to Syed Akbaruddin (mea ) for keeping the nation informed by regular updates on Twitter. He is good, I remember how in one interview the reporter was trying put words into his mouth and he thrashed the reporter left and right !
Yes, he's moving away. Sad to see him go, he has a lot of grace and is always quick with those tweets. The next office holder is Vikas Swarup - the brain behind Slumdog Millionaire.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Singha »

very sharp guy. should be useful as a HC in Bartania to keep things in check there.
Aditya G
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

6th April
3 x AI Sorties: Sana'a - 574 pax
INS Delhi: AL Hodeidah - 479 pax
Both should be to Djibouti as earlier.


Summary by IAF. Need to counter check my previous posts against this.

Image
Aditya G
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

7th April update: :mrgreen:

Image
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/india ... 87645.html
...

According to a CNN report, the Indian government has told the US that it will help rescue American citizens in Yemen. The US Embassy in Sanna put out an emergency message saying, "The Indian government has offered to assist U.S. citizens who want to depart Yemen for Djibouti. This potentially includes flights out of Sana’a and ships from Aden. U.S. citizens wishing to take advantage of this opportunity should contact First Secretary Raj Kopal at the Indian Embassy in Sana’a"

The message also said, "The next flights from Sana’a are scheduled to depart early on April 7. The Department of State cautions that U.S. citizens should consider carefully the risks of traveling to or within Sana’a and Aden in order to board evacuation transport given security conditions in both cities."

However according to The Economic Times, it was a surprising move since US "has strong naval presence as well as deployment of its Air Force in West Asia. France also has presence of its Navy in the region to counter piracy"

...
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/0 ... QT20150407
(Reuters) - India's evacuation of nearly 4,000 nationals from Yemen has been a triumph of improvisation, but some officials in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government say a slow response to the crisis has underlined the need for a full-time staff to protect Indians abroad.

On Monday, India rescued more than 1,000 people by plane and ship, the most on a single day since Saudi Arabia launched air strikes against Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen on March 26. India has been asked by 26 nations - including the United States - to help get their citizens out of the conflict zone.

Yet New Delhi struggled for several days to ramp up its rescue effort and had to hire a ship to make the first evacuation of its nationals from the port of Aden as fighting escalated there.

Government insiders :roll: draw unfavourable comparisons with China's swifter evacuation of 570 nationals on warships that was completed on March 31. An Indian navy patrol vessel was only able to go in on the following day.

"The Chinese were way ahead in the rescue process," said one senior foreign ministry official, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

India's rescue effort got off to a false start, with planes commandeered from Air India sitting idle in Muscat, Oman, because it was impossible to negotiate the opening of a safe air corridor with the Saudis.

Things only really got moving with the deployment of foreign office minister V.K. Singh - a retired army chief - to a forward operations base in Djibouti, across the Gulf of Aden, from where air force C-17 transporters have picked up evacuees brought out by Air India from Sanaa and flown them home.

A second official said the challenges of evacuating thousands of Indian nationals from fighting in Iraq last year had shown that a full-time staff was needed to rescue overseas Indians in times of crisis.

[typical babu thought process. have a specialist force for everything and thrust generalist IAS on top]

"We were late in assessing the crisis - and this was exactly the same case during the Iraq crisis," the second official said.

The scramble jars with Modi's ambition to boost India's global influence, by increasing the military's ability to project power and connecting with a large and widely dispersed diaspora that was long neglected by the government.

The Ministry of External Affairs has, however, rebutted criticism that it was slow to warn more than 4,000 Indians living in Yemen to leave, saying it issued the first of a series of advisories in January as the security situation deteriorated.

Foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin declined to comment on calls for a permanent evacuation staff, saying the rescue had gone remarkably well in difficult conditions.

"It was much more perilous, the circumstances were more turbulent, and diplomatically it was a tightrope walk," said Akbaruddin.

India flew 600 nationals out of Sanaa and Tuesday and plans to make its last evacuation flights from the capital on Wednesday, the ministry said. No Indians have been reported killed or wounded in the fighting in Yemen.

....

Yet India's embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa has a full-time staff of just 10, making it tough to track citizens there - some reluctant to leave even in the face of danger because losing their jobs would spell financial ruin.

Many of those still in Yemen are nurses from Kerala, in southern India. The state's chief minister called on the federal government on Monday to instruct its embassy to intervene to get their passports back from employers so that they can go home.

"There is pressure growing from below," said foreign policy expert C. Raja Mohan, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, who has called for a "well-staffed permanent mechanism" for Indians abroad.

"India needs quite clearly a mechanism that can look at the full spectrum of issues and bring the military in," said Mohan.

(Additional reporting by D. Jose in Thiruvananthapuram; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Rahul M
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Rahul M »

Nikhil T wrote:
chilarai wrote:Great job done. Some credit should also go to Syed Akbaruddin (mea ) for keeping the nation informed by regular updates on Twitter. He is good, I remember how in one interview the reporter was trying put words into his mouth and he thrashed the reporter left and right !
Yes, he's moving away. Sad to see him go, he has a lot of grace and is always quick with those tweets. The next office holder is Vikas Swarup - the brain behind Slumdog Millionaire.
vikas swarup's Q&A is 180 degrees apart in tone and attitude from the poverty pawrn flick known as slumdog millionaire.
Vayutuvan
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Vayutuvan »

hnair: At some point in the past (distant) Vayalar Ravi used to be considered a good and intelligent politician. What gives?
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Ankit Desai »

In Hindi -- http://www.ndtv.com/....

Pilot said so far 1300 evacuated by air.


India has evacuated 232 nationals of 26 countries including US, UK, France and Sweden from strife-torn Yemen, foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said on Tuesday

India has evacuated nationals of almost all its neighbours (Pakistan has pulled out 11 Indians) and taken in US, UK, German and Malaysian nationals among others.

On Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman tweeted: "232 persons from 26 countries evacuated by India from Yemen. Efforts continuing," along with the list of the names of the countries that sought India's help.
Until now, India has evacuated over 3,500 of its nationals.
-Ankit
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Abhay_S »

CNN international on indian evacuation

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/201 ... ations.cnn
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by member_20067 »

Abhay_S wrote:CNN international on indian evacuation

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/201 ... ations.cnn
Quite intense... and great job by the civies FAs and pilots in almost war-like situation to risk their life and pull these people out of danger... only hope that headline of the story could have been a little different...
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by JTull »

Perhaps IN should have struggled to evacuate Americans and the CNN reporter and offloaded them at the half way point for lack of basic decency in saying thanks.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by member_22733 »

Prithwiraj wrote:
Abhay_S wrote:CNN international on indian evacuation

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/201 ... ations.cnn
Quite intense... and great job by the civies FAs and pilots in almost war-like situation to risk their life and pull these people out of danger... only hope that headline of the story could have been a little different...
It is quite intense, and thats why its a struggle. Atleast our brave guys are struggling instead being like Unkil and "giving up" because we "dont have strategic assets located close enough to help our people"
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by ldev »

x post

Good interview with the the pilot of the IAF C-17 on its way to Djibouti.

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/201 ... ations.cnn
Last edited by ldev on 08 Apr 2015 07:55, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Singha »

I think unkil not interested because most if not all american citizens there are Yemeni Americans not goras. So SD did some hand wringing and declined to arrange anything.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Singha »

some details on the c17s being used

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/c17-globemas ... 558-3.html
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by vaibhav.n »

IAF's Yemen high
Indian Air Force Station Hindon, April 7: A "Skylord" from Group Captain D.S. Reddy's squadron is revving up now as we speak on the tarmac of this airbase just east of Delhi, ready to fly to Djibouti on the Horn of Africa in 30 minutes for what he expects will be one of the last sorties to evacuate Indians and others from Yemen.

In the Indian naval-air evacuation operation named "Raahat" in which India has rescued 3,300 citizens so far, plus hundreds from 23 other countries, Hindon is the home-base of the Indian Air Force effort.

"Many of those whom we have flown back were nervous, scared, tense, sleepless and stressed, but no, I cannot say we actually had people on our plane with external physical injuries like gunshot wounds so far," says Reddy. The crew that is about to take flight now itself touched down here at 5.45 this morning.

The navy may have a different story to tell on the evacuees. Indian warships INS Sumitra, INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash have literally been sailing into a zone of fire in Yemen's Al Hudaydah, Aden and Al Mukallah, from which they have been extracting people.

Last night CNN celebrity anchor Wolf Blitzer asked a US official, "If the Indians can do it, why not the US?", while the screen ran a strip saying the US is depending on India to evacuate American citizens, too.

The No. 81 "Skylords" Squadron of the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft that is ferrying the evacuees out of the war zone originate and terminate here. The C-17 Globemasters are the Indian Air Force's imports from the US. The squadron has 10 such planes, two of them now on their way to and from Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. A total of three from the squadron are flying in "Raahat".

"We returned from Jamnagar (Gujarat) where we had parked after ferrying evacuees from Djibouti to Mumbai just this morning, at first light, because of a technical snag," says Reddy. Mumbai does not have enough parking space. The "technical snag" is classified as normal for the squadron. The blades of the jet engines' fans get "nicked" and the need to change them at an average of once every two sorties in the current operation make the aircraft return here. This is the longest operation the squadron has clocked so far.

The logs show that it does about 300 hours a month, or about 75 hours a week. Since "Op Raahat" began a week ago, it has already clocked 150 hours. The C-17s fly from Hindon to Delhi or Jamnagar or Mumbai where the crew completes immigration formalities to exit the country (and re-enter). This evening's flight will hop to Delhi (called "Palam" in IAF terminology) because the airbase here usually shuts for the night for an airfield upgrade programme.

"Planning for this operation is actually quite elaborate," says the Air Officer Commanding the base, Air Commodore A Sabharwal. "The cockpit has to be armour-plated because we know we are flying in and out of war zone, but do not quite know who is friend and who is foe".

Truth to tell, India's national carrier, Air India, has flown in and out of the line of fire in this operation more than the Indian Air Force has. Air India flights from Muscat in Oman actually landed in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, took people on board, and hopped to Djibouti. These were A 320 and 321 commercial aircraft of the civil airline.

For reasons unexplained so far, Saudi Arabia, which has attacked the Houthi rebels in Yemen, assured India of a three-hour window each day at the Sanaa airport. The Yemeni capital is overrun by Houthi rebels but Saudi Arabia was so far able to guarantee a modicum of security at its airport because it said it controlled the airspace. The Saudis have imposed a no-fly-zone over Yemen, otherwise. The restrictions on flying military aircraft near or over Yemen are more severe than on civilian planes. Military aircraft may be capable of "mapping" what is on the ground with sophisticated sensors they have on board. And no side in a war wants its assets detected.

There are at least two possibilities why Indian civil aircraft have so far been able to land and take off from Sanaa: first, the airport there is in total control of Saudi Arabia and/or its proxies. Second, there is an understanding than civilian aircraft will not be fired upon.

That second possibility has been experienced once before by the IAF. During "Operation Cactus", the Indian intervention when Mahmoud Abdul Gayoom was deposed as president of the Maldives in the 1990s, India was assured that the usurpers were not in control of the airport at Male. Eventually, India landed special forces in Male that helped restore Gayoom to power.

There is one fundamental difference in Yemen, however. India is not overtly taking sides. "We take a circuitous route to avoid Yemen," says Reddy. "We fly over Somalia to Djibouti". Unlike the Airbus aircraft of Air India that are flying in and out of Sanaa, the C-17 "Skylords" are military aircraft but not combat jets. They are "strategic air-lifters", equipped with self-defence measures. Inside the cockpit of the plane that is about to take off, Squadron Leader S.K. Choudhary explains: "We have flares and counter-measures and the MAWS". MAWS is the acronym for "Missile Attack Warning System". The C-17s fly from here to Djibouti and back without refuelling, their endurance is so high.

"Our challenges are in aircraft management, fatigue management, crew management," says Reddy, the commanding officer of the squadron. "But it is nice to absorb the appreciation of the people (evacuees)."

"This (the deployment of the Indian Air Force aircraft) is like a palliative, we are telling our citizens, look we are here and they like to see that we are there," says Group Captain P.A. Purohit, Chief Operations Officer at the Hindon Airbase.

The C-17s are flying with additional crew. While two pilots fly the plane, two rest and sleep behind the cockpit. They take turns resting and flying.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

Image

INS Tarkash @ Al Hodeidah

Image

IN efforts

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IAF efforts


New Indian Express
NEW DELHI: Suddenly gunfire resounded through the Yemeni port on Saturday evening as a boat made the journey towards the looming Indian naval warship in the horizon last Saturday. The passengers ducked instinctively.

On board INS Mumbai, Tahseen Bahader was anxiously awaiting their arrival. “There were only 15-20 left, mostly foreigners and they were on the last boat. When it left the port, there was such heavy firing. It was very tense time”.

Accompanied by Marine commandoes, they took the 30 minutes to complete the journey to the guided missile destroyer. "Thankfully, they were not firing at the Indian boat. But another nearby boat, which they thought was suspicious," said Bahader.

The 65-year-old vice principal of Mahatma Gandhi international school, an Yemeni citizen of Indian origin, was among the last to leave the shore. As the chief coordinator to bring together the Indians for evacuation to port, onshore, she was apparently among the last ones to go to safety on board INS Mumbai.

...

Now safely ensconced in her sister-in-law’s flat, Bahader told Express that she got the responsibility to be the coordinator as her superior had left by the first Indian warship. “My number was passed to the embassy and I was told to collect the names and passport numbers of all Indians in Aden who were left,” she said.

...

The violence in Aden had escalated so much that the location of the Indian warship’s berthing had to be changed to a more relatively safer port. “The ship was to berth at Malla port, but then I got a call from the captain that there was too much fighting there and all assembled should go to Tahawi, which is about 25 kilometres away,” she said.

The Indian navy had described the evacuation as having taken place in “war-like conditions”, which forced the ship to be anchored about 4-5 kilometer away in deeper waters. “We hired one big and one smaller boat. In total, we took five round trips to pick up all waiting people. It was all quiet till the last trip, when heavy gunfire broke out,” said Bahader.

She gushed about Indian Navy’s hospitality on the overnight trip to Djibouti. “I can’t tell you enough how well they took care of us. The crew so very nice and kind. All the foreigners were also praising them,” she said.

....
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

Total Evacuees: 5,600 (4,640 Indian and 960 Foreigners of 41 countries)

Number of evacuees from Sanaa: 2900 via 18 Air India sorties.

Number of evacuees from Djibouti: 2001 via C-17

9th April
INS Sumitra rescued 349 people from Al Hodeidah (46 Indian, 303 Foreigners)
3 x AI sorties from Sanaa: 630 pax

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/o ... 082273.ece
With over 4,000 Indian nationals evacuated from Yemen, India on Wednesday began winding down the mammoth evacuation exercise under Operation Raahat. Though air operations were to be concluded on Wednesday, with 140 nurses requesting assistance, it has been decided to extend it for one more day.

“Responding to needs of 140 nurses, India extends air evacuation from Yemen by a day. Fights planned for tomorrow also, subject to clearances,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in a tweet.

On the Indian evacuation efforts to help foreign nationals, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said, “Everyone helping irrespective of nationality,” and stated that 409 foreign nationals from 32 countries are to be evacuated from Yemen.

Helping foreign nationals
This was also endorsed by Minister for Overseas Indians General (Retd.) V.K. Singh, who is coordinating operations from Djibouti and Sana’a, who said “We have not refused anyone,” adding: “Wherever we can help foreign nationals, we have done that.”

In an interaction with the media on the challenges facing Air Force pilots flying C-17s, Group Captain B.S. Reddy commanding officer of the C-17 squadron performing evacuation said it is time and fatigue management due to long flying hours and narrow flying windows for evacuation.

Commenting on the evacuation efforts, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said that, “NDA Governments Operation Raahat guided by the diplomatic skill and able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised India’s stature in the world.”

Mr. Sharma added that pointed out that on earlier occasions too the government had successfully brought back Indians stranded aboard, including Father Alexis Prem Kumar from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan besides thousands of other Indians in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria.

Naval officials said that, though scaled down, operations would continue for few more days as there were Indians still trapped in small groups in interior areas of Yemen who were being facilitated by local Indian groups.
Photo roll:

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(Garud Cdos)

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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Ankit Desai »

Yemen evacuation operation over, we are closing our embassy there, tweets External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj

-Ankit
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by member_22733 »

Singha wrote:I think unkil not interested because most if not all american citizens there are Yemeni Americans not goras. So SD did some hand wringing and declined to arrange anything.
Unkil is very predictable... just like Bakis. :mrgreen:

Goras == political pressure and vote bank == unkil moving his gigantic ass from the Barbaria base and rescuing everyone == votes == house seat/senate seat guaranteed next time.

Also Gora rescue == 24/7 news == More funding via various bills in house/senate for our "nations protectors" == Haliburton shares go up.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

http://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dt ... from+Yemen
Evacuation from Yemen

April 09, 2015

With the airlifting of over 630 persons from Sana’a today by three special Air India flights, India has concluded its evacuation by air. The total number of Indians evacuated from Sana’a by air has crossed 2900 by eighteen special flights since the beginning of the air operations.

In addition, Indian naval vessels have also evacuated over 1670 Indians from Aden, Al Hudaydah and Al Mukalla ports in Yemen since 31 March.

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

The entire evacuation effort has resulted in the evacuation of over 5600 persons. These include over 4640 Indian nationals and about 960 foreign nationals from 41 countries.
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Sitanshu Kar @SpokespersonMoD · 27m 27 minutes ago
#YemenEvacuation Entire Squadron of C17 Globemaster III at Hindan after their 10-day task of flying back evacuees


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#YemenEvacuation Team Leader of the Indian Air Force ops in Djibouti Gp Capt Pathania returns home!

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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by arshyam »

Aditya G wrote:http://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dt ... from+Yemen

Image

Sitanshu Kar @SpokespersonMoD · 27m 27 minutes ago
#YemenEvacuation Entire Squadron of C17 Globemaster III at Hindan after their 10-day task of flying back evacuees
Naari shakti! Please tweet this folks.

#Respect.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

11th April

INS Tarkash saves 464 from Aden -> Djibouti. Plus mortal remains of Manjit Singh who had died of bomb blast ashore.

Talwar class frigates in action again in Gulf
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... ?prtpage=1
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Al-Qaida forced Navy to change Yemen operation plan
V Narayan,TNN | Apr 20, 2015, 06.33 AM IST

MUMBAI: The three Indian Navy (IN) Ships—INS Mumbai, Tarkash and Sumitra—returned back after completing their mission rescue Operation Rahat that they took over under challenging conditions evacuating over 3,000 people, including Indians, from the war-torn Yemen. The toughest rescue, though all was difficult, was carried out by the Saryu class patrol vessel (INS Sumitra) on April 5 that evacuated 203, including 182 Indians, from Ash Shihr port which is located 25 nautical miles (46 km) away from the Al Qaida militant base at Al Mukalla. Meanwhile some of the crews of INS Tarkash were placed onboard the two passenger liners, escorted to Kochi port, to keep an eye onboard 70% Bangladeshi nationals among the Indians :roll: those embarked from Djibouti Port on April 15.

Stealth frigate class INS Tarkash which participated in the rescue operation returned back to Mumbai harbour in the morning on April 18 after it escorted two passenger liners—MV Kavaratti and MV Corals—with onboard 475 evacuees, including majority of Bangladeshi national, embarked at Kochi. Destroyer class INS Mumbai returned back to Mumbai harbour on April 16 and INS Sumitra is back to anti-piracy patrolling duty at Gulf of Aden. The ships' crews will be greeted and interacted by the senior officers of the command and the Chief of Naval Staff on April 20. "The entire operations was handled tactically so that no lives at put on risk and even the naval ships," the Indian Defence spokesperson told TOI.

The Indians from the fallen city were moved to Ash Shihr port from where they were transferred to the Navy vessel using smaller boats under Operation Raahat, defence sources said adding that the conditions were difficult. Due to the security situation, INS Sumitra had anchored about three kilometres outside the port for 24 hours. Initially INS Sumitra has planned to evacuate Indians and foreign nationals from Al Mukalla port but citing the difficulty and possibility of attack from the militants the plan was dropped. "After a makeshift in its plan the INS Sumitra alerted the evacuees to reach Ash Shihr port from where they were evacuated. The tactical move has helped for safe voyage without a single firing or attack from the militants. While there has been incident where a foreign nation faced the difficulty after they entered a port in Yemen armed and was backfired and was forced to return back after they witnessed firing and shelling on them at Aden port," said the source.

After the request from the other nations, the INS ships carried out evacuation of both Indians and Foreign nationals that began on March 31 and the last rescue operation was completed on April 15. "IN rescued the evacuees after hiring the services of local boats from Yemen to ferry them out of the port and embarked them on INS vessels harboured outside the port, especially Aden. As the days progressed, the Port of Aden was engulfed in shelling and firing and permission for entry of ships was not accorded by the local authorities as fighting raged in the port city. ," said the source.

The nine rescue operations was carried out from three ports—Aden, Al Hodeidah and Ash Shihr. INS Sumitra carried out five operations and rescued 1,621 people, including 705 foreign nationals of more than 30 countries. Two each by INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash evacuating 915 and 538 respectively. "IN was first off the starting block, with INS Sumitra, one of the newest Offshore Patrol Vessels of the Indian Navy, being diverted immediately from her operational tasking in the Gulf of Aden and immediately entered the Port of Aden and evacuated the first wave of 349 Indians on March 31 and transported them to Djibouti. During the evacuation operations at Aden, the ship reported bombing and gunfire and a general disorder, pandemonium and unrest," said the official.

The source said a small mistake could have put several lives at risk. "The Indian mission in Yemen and the sharp move with skillful coordination by the INS crews onboard has helped in tackling odd situation. INS Sumitra waited outside the Al Mukallah harbour for over 24 hours before it received information that the evacuees has changed the plan to embark from this port and has headed to Ash Shihr Port which is the safest one avoiding falling prey to the militants," said the source.

While the rescue operation went becoming more and more difficult at Aden Port as time progressed. After all ships were in area the evacuation cycle continued with close cooperation between various Government agencies participating in the area and the three ships. "As very few countries were participating in evacuation, requests poured in from the international community to evacuate their citizens from the war zone also. Keeping safety of life as paramount requirement, these ships, provided assistance to many foreign nationals in escaping to safety," said the official.
Timeline of INS Mumbai led taskforce;

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... -in-yemen/
...

As more than 300 Indians were known to be awaiting evacuation from Aden, INS Mumbai was relieved of escort duties and was dispatched to a location off Aden on April 4, while INS Tarkash continued to escort passenger ships and reached Djibouti on April 5.

441 people, including foreign nationals, women, elderly persons and children were evacuated using boats from the Port of Aden to INS Mumbai and were transported to Djibouti on April 5.

With most Indians already evacuated, INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash left Djibouti for India on April 12, while INS Sumitra continued to remain in the area for the final evacuation mission conducted on April 15.

INS Mumbai reached Mumbai Harbour on April 16 and INS Tarkash escorted the two Merchant Vessels Kavaratti and Coral out of piracy ridden Gulf of Aden and returned Mumbai harbour on April 18. The two MVs with evacuees on them entered Cochin on April 18.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Raja Bose »

arshyam wrote:
Aditya G wrote:http://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dt ... from+Yemen

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Sitanshu Kar @SpokespersonMoD · 27m 27 minutes ago
#YemenEvacuation Entire Squadron of C17 Globemaster III at Hindan after their 10-day task of flying back evacuees
Naari shakti! Please tweet this folks.

#Respect.
Bharatiya shakti! 8)
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

Found this small tit bit ...

http://www.niticentral.com/2015/03/20/i ... 07481.html
...

India should look at having military bases in foreign countries, something it has been shy of. After Singapore became an independent republic in 1965, it asked India to guarantee its security and asked for Indian naval assets to be stationed there. The then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi refused to take any security role in the region. In the 1980s, Zimbabwe had asked the then PM Rajiv Gandhi to station Mig 21s in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Rajiv Gandhi declined saying he is was not in favour of deploying bases on foreign shores.

...
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

Welcome home!

SPB and INS Tir escort the MVs into Kochi. INS Tarkash had broken off towards Mumbai.

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MARCOS have pulled off another clean operation. Op Raahat showcased this unit's capacity ... they maintained teams aboard Ships Sumitra, Mumbai, Tarkash, Coral and Karavati. That is 5 teams out of which one was already deployed for counter piracy operations.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by member_23694 »

interesting tweet
Sandeep
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Driver in Thimphu says N frontier w China guarded by grim Indian troops some sporting dragon patches. catch '22' :)
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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Navy chief RK Dhowan congratulates the crew of INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash for successfully undertaking Operation Rahat in war-torn Yemen, on Monday Hemant Padalkar dna
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 198_1.html
Government today sent an IL 76 aircraft to Kathmandu to bring back mortal remains of the 17 Indian pilgrims who were killed in a bus accident in Nepal.

The plane will reach Kathmandu tonight. However, the bodies and 28 people injured in the incident will be air-lifted tomorrow after completion of formalities.

"India sends IL 76 aircraft to bring back mortal remains of victims of tragic bus accident in Nepal. Aircraft to reach Kathmandu tonight," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

He said that on account of more time for formalities relating the tragic bus accident, IAF has informed that the victims' mortal remains and injured will be brought back tomorrow.

At least 17 Indian pilgrims including nine women were killed and 28 others injured when a bus carrying them from Gujarat plunged some 100 metres from a mountain highway in Nepal.
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

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http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/ind ... 85126.html
New Delhi: Indian Air Force planes have fetched around 546 of its citizens, including several infants, back from quake-hit Kathmandu since late Saturday with more sorties firmed up during Sunday, officials here said.


The first Indian Air Force plan to arrive from the Nepalese capital was a C-130J Super Hercules with 55 passengers, including fur infants, on board at around 10.45 p.m., followed by a C-17 Globemaster III, a little after midnight with 101 passengers and an infant.

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In the early hours of Sunday, an IL-76 aircraft brought back 152 passengers. And at around 4.45 a.m., another C-17 Globemaster III returned with 247 Indians.

The Indian defence forces, meanwhile decided to step up their search, rescue and humanitarian efforts in Nepal on Sunday, which was hit by a devastating earthquake just before noon on Saturday, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction.

"Ten flights are planned for Kathmandu today. These would be airlifting army forward hospitals, engineering task forces, water, food, National Disaster Response Force teams, medical personnel and equipment, blankets and tents," said Sitanshu Kar, the spokesperson for the defence ministry.

Sunday`s sorties will also involve choppers. Kar said six MI helicopters stationed at Gorakhpur, in north-west Uttar Pradesh, and another six at various places were on standby to be pressed into service.

The first to fly out to Kathmandu was a light MI chopper, followed by five MI-17 helicopters from Gorakhpur. "India will also be augmenting rescue efforts by pressing into service four more helicopters, including two Indian Air Force ALH Dhruvs later in the day," Kar said.

Over 1,500 people were killed and thousands were injured when a massive earthquake -- lasting about 20 frightening seconds -- and several strong aftershocks caused widespread destruction in Nepal. India was also affected.

The quake measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was Nepal`s Lamjung district, some 75 km northwest of capital Kathmandu. Over 50 aftershocks were also felt.

The first Indian Air Force plan to arrive from the Nepalese capital was a C-130J Super Hercules with 55 passengers, including fur infants, on board at around 10:45 p.m., followed by a C-17 Globemaster III, a little after midnight with 101 passengers and an infant.

In the early hours of Sunday, an IL-76 aircraft brought back 152 passengers.

The Indian defence forces, meanwhile decided to step up their search, rescue and humanitarian efforts in Nepal on Sunday, which was hit by a devastating earthquake just before noon on Saturday, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction.

"Ten flights are planned for Kathmandu today. These would be airlifting army forward hospitals, engineering task forces, water, food, National Disaster Response Force teams, medical personnel and equipment, blankets and tents," said Sitanshu Kar, the spokesperson for the defence ministry.

Sunday`s sorties will also involve choppers.

Kar said six MI helicopters stationed at Gorakhpur, in north-west Uttar Pradesh, and another six at various places were on standby to be pressed into service. The first to fly out to Kathmandu was a light MI chopper, followed by five MI-17 helicopters from Gorakhpur.

"India will also be augmenting rescue efforts by pressing into service four more helicopters, including two Indian Air Force ALH Dhruvs later in the day," Kar said.

Over 1,500 people were killed and thousands were injured when a massive earthquake -- lasting about 20 frightening seconds -- and several strong aftershocks caused widespread destruction in Nepal. India was also affected.

The quake measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was Nepal`s Lamjung district, some 75 km northwest of capital Kathmandu. Over 50 aftershocks were also felt.
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#NepalEarthquake NDRF personnel, sniffer dogs and other loads get on board IL-76 at Bhatinda for the flt to Kathmandu
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Re: Foreign Operations & Deployments

Post by Aditya G »

Potentially another rescue op in the works for Yemen. Whether it happens or not, it is time to debate citizen's own responsibility while working in conflict zones. I want safety of my fellow country men, but dont want somebody else to loose their lives during avoidable rescue ops.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/5 ... 646584.ece
Seven crew members from Gujarat were killed while more than 50 Indians were said to be stuck in “dangerous circumstances” in war-torn Yemen, which is bombed by Saudi Arabia, fighting the rebels in Yemen. The Saudi-led alliance bombed two boats at al-Khokha, a small port near Hodeidah city, on September 8 in which seven persons were killed, all from Gujarat.

“It’s shocking. We are devastated because two persons — Osman Abdul Chomadia (55) and Asgar Anwar Sanghar — from our village were among those killed. They were sailors and used to ferry between India, Dubai, Somalia and Yemen,” said Gannibhai, a resident of Bharana village in Jamnagar district. Both of them had left India seven months back. “We have sent the documents to the authorities, who have performed their last rights also. Their bodies have been buried there,” Gannibhai added.

Of the other five killed, four were from Salaya Mandavi village in Kutch and one from Sikka from Jamnagar.

Adam Bhaya, secretary, Indian Sailing Vessel Association (ISVA) from Salaya, Jamnagar, said: “Five boats are stuck at Khokha port and most of the crew members are from Gujarat. We have requested the Indian authorities to shift other crew members to safe locations. Some of them have been injured very badly and are undergoing treatment.”

Desperate loss
“I have lost everything with the loss of my vessel. It was carrying food stock from Somalia and Yemen. It was bombed without any provocation,” said Isha Thain, owner of al-Amar, on which four crew members were killed.

“They have recovered bodies of three while one is still missing as per our information. But I am worried about those who are alive. They have sent us messages that they are unsafe,” Mr. Isha told The Hindu from Mandavi, Kutch.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 90061.aspx
ndia said on Sunday it was taking steps to ensure the safe evacuation of its nationals from Yemen after a sailors' group claimed that 70 seamen from Gujarat were stranded in the war-ravaged county.

"Our Mission in Yemen (Camp Office in Djibouti) is aware of the situation and taking steps to ensure safe evacuation of Indians," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in Delhi.

Nearly 70 sailors from the coastal village of Mandavi in Kutch and from Jodiya and Salaya villages of Jamnagar were stuck for over 15 days now at Khokha port in Yemen where they had gone to deliver cargo in five boats, a sailors' group in Gujarat said, appealing to the government to rescue them.

Less after six Indians, most of them from Gujarat, were killed when their boat came under Saudi-led air strikes in the Arab country, which is reeling due to a civil war. Shia Houthi rebels and supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh are fighting against forces loyal to President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

"About 70 Gujarati sailors along with five vessels are stranded in Yemen for around 15 days and they now need the government's help for their rescue," Vahanvatta Association of Kutch and Mandavi president Haji Juneja told PTI.

"I yesterday (Saturday) wrote to the ministry of external affairs urging them to save our sailors or shift them to a safer place," he said.

"The sailors are in a pitiable condition as some forces have been bombarding them. They escaped death last night when some force, either of the insurgents or the Saudi coalition, began an attack with rocket launchers," he said.

Meanwhile, one of the stranded sailors, identified as Sikandar from Mandavi village, sent an audio message in which he said that they came under a bomb attack Saturday night.

"I am an Indian. My name is Sikandar. We are at Khokha port. They have lobbed three rockets and we somehow managed to save ourselves. We are running here and there to save ourselves," Sikandar said in the message.

"We are 70 Indians stranded here along with five ships. They have been bombarding us with warplanes. Please help us. We are Indians. We are in great difficulty. They will kill us. Please save us," he said.

Yemen has been facing a civil war-like situation with Shiite rebels clashing with pro-government forces. United Nations estimates that more than 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict since March.

The external affairs ministry had said on Friday that six Indians were killed after their boat came under Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen on September 8.

The deceased were among seven Indian nationals who were initially reported missing when two boats, 'Mustafa' and 'Asmar' carrying a total of 21 Indian nationals came under aerial attack.

The ministry had said that of the remaining 15 Indians, 14 were safe in Hodeidah while one person was still missing.
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