In April 2015, Indian Armed Forces launched a humanitarian rescue operation called Operation Raahat to evacuate its citizens from Yemen on a war-footing.
The rescue operation was probably one of the toughest for India and probabaly one of the most stellar rescue missions ever conducted in a strife-torn area internationally, since there were many stakeholders in the war: Shia Houthi rebels, Al-Qaeda, Yemen, Saudi Arabia. In such a scenario it could be extremely difficult and confusing for rescue any team since no one know who the enemy really is.
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The Operation Rahat has impressed The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom so much that it wants to study it, officially.
In a short span of 10 days, Indian Armed Forced rescued over 5,600 people including 960 foreign nationals from 41 countries.
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“The operation was phenomenally successful. India also rescued our citizens from Yemen. The evacuations were done in record time. This is so inspiring that we now want to get associated with the Indian Navy to engage in combined humanitarian relief work,” Captain Stuart Borland, naval and air adviser to the Royal Navy, told The Sunday Guardian.
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During the operation, India took the lead in the rescue of foreigners trapped in Yemen, evacuating more than 550 foreigners from 32 countries, including a dozen Americans and three Pakistanis. Operation Rahat impressed the world and countries like Sweden, Djibouti, Hungary, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Romania, Slovenia, Bahrain, Czech Republic, Cuba, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey, sought India’s help in evacuating their citizens.
Requests for Indian assistance in evacuation from Yemen keeps growing.
On last count 26 requests received. pic.twitter.com/hn3TScsvFh— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) April 6, 2015
Reuters
At the time of Operation Rahat, Yemen was in the midst of spiraling crisis. The Saudi-led offensive had caused complete shutdown of all flights in and out of the country along with blockade of main seaports and closure of embassies.
If no clearance received, we will evacuate you by ship reaching Hodeidah port on 4th midnight. @mkloka
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 1, 2015
silpnujs
Indian efforts were anchored by a government team deployed in the tiny Red Sea state of Djibouti. It involved combined air, sea and rail operations.
India helped evacuate also Germans out of Yemen. Thank you India! @narendramodi @MEAIndia @SushmaSwaraj
— Michael Steiner (@Amb_MSteiner) April 7, 2015
ndtv
India’s coordination and presence was such that the U.S. Embassy advised American nationals to seek Indian assistance to leave Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, which was under rebel control and has come under heavy bombardment by the Saudi-led coalition.
India’s evacuation efforts from Yemen enter final phase – Happy faces all around in the Control Room at Djibouti. pic.twitter.com/6XfBwYuspg
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) April 8, 2015
timesofindia
The operation saw seamless co-operation between the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Air India, Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Railways and the state governments.
readcontra
Some of the warships that were pressed into saving the maximum number of passengers include the guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai, INS Sumitra, and they entered the Yemeni ports in record time and took onboard the maximum number of passengers in the shortest available time span.
We really appreciate this a lot: British national evacuated from Yemen by Air India #YemenEvacuation pic.twitter.com/Aps9OhVc1T
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2015
thekarmayogi
Seamless co-operation between organisations- MEA, Navy, Air Force, Air India, Shipping, Railways & State Govts greatly helped in rescue work
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 6, 2015