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The exercise to evacuate Indians stranded in Libya will begin on Saturday, with Air India having got permission to operate two special flights to Tripoli while two Navy ships will set sail for that country the same day.
There are at least 18,000 Indian nationals in Libya. Air India would ply flights — one each from Mumbai and Delhi — to Tripoli. The flights would leave at 1:30 a.m. and the exercise, including the return trip, should take around 15 hours, said an AI spokesman.
The country's flag carrier would operate a 747 from Mumbai and an A330 from Delhi, and both planes together could evacuate around 700 people at a time. AI was operating these flights free of cost at the request of the Ministry of External Affairs.
An Il-76 transport aircraft is also on standby.
The Navy would contribute INS Jalashwa, a Landing Platform Dock, and Delhi-class destroyer INS Mysore. These would set sail on Friday and transfer Indians either to Malta or Egypt, from where they would be transported to India by air.
INS Jalashwa (formerly USS Trenton) is an amphibious platform that is designed for sea-lift missions and also capable of undertaking humanitarian missions. Both ships had been specially equipped for the task with full medical facilities such as an operation theatre, doctors and paramedics, a Navy spokesman said.
The ships together can carry 1,500 people. They are carrying helicopters and a contingent of marine Special Forces personnel. The ships will take around 10 days to reach Libya.
Cautioning the Indians against being asked to pay a fee for their evacuation, the Ministry of External Affairs said the exercise was being done free of charge.
In a statement, the Ministry said: “It has come to [our] notice that some unscrupulous elements are asking for payments/handling charges/facilitation fee etc., for arranging the evacuation of Indian nationals, through the Embassy of India in Libya. These activities are completely illegal and individuals engaged in them should be immediately reported to the law enforcement authorities. It is further emphasised that no payment or charge of any kind is being levied by the government, for the evacuation/assisted departure of any Indian national in Libya.”
Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said that the Libyan government had given landing clearance for two AI planes per day for 10 days from SaturdayThis effort will augment the decision to ferry the stranded nationals in a 1,200-seater ferry chartered by India. The ship, Scotia Prince, is expected to reach the port city of Benghazi on Monday and bring some Indians to Egypt's Alexandria by March 2/3, from where they will be flown back home by special Air India flights. A total of 150 people left Libya via Tobruk by road to Salloum in Egypt.
There are at least 18,000 Indian nationals in Libya. Air India would ply flights — one each from Mumbai and Delhi — to Tripoli. The flights would leave at 1:30 a.m. and the exercise, including the return trip, should take around 15 hours, said an AI spokesman.
The country's flag carrier would operate a 747 from Mumbai and an A330 from Delhi, and both planes together could evacuate around 700 people at a time. AI was operating these flights free of cost at the request of the Ministry of External Affairs.
An Il-76 transport aircraft is also on standby.
The Navy would contribute INS Jalashwa, a Landing Platform Dock, and Delhi-class destroyer INS Mysore. These would set sail on Friday and transfer Indians either to Malta or Egypt, from where they would be transported to India by air.
INS Jalashwa (formerly USS Trenton) is an amphibious platform that is designed for sea-lift missions and also capable of undertaking humanitarian missions. Both ships had been specially equipped for the task with full medical facilities such as an operation theatre, doctors and paramedics, a Navy spokesman said.
The ships together can carry 1,500 people. They are carrying helicopters and a contingent of marine Special Forces personnel. The ships will take around 10 days to reach Libya.
Cautioning the Indians against being asked to pay a fee for their evacuation, the Ministry of External Affairs said the exercise was being done free of charge.
In a statement, the Ministry said: “It has come to [our] notice that some unscrupulous elements are asking for payments/handling charges/facilitation fee etc., for arranging the evacuation of Indian nationals, through the Embassy of India in Libya. These activities are completely illegal and individuals engaged in them should be immediately reported to the law enforcement authorities. It is further emphasised that no payment or charge of any kind is being levied by the government, for the evacuation/assisted departure of any Indian national in Libya.”
Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said that the Libyan government had given landing clearance for two AI planes per day for 10 days from SaturdayThis effort will augment the decision to ferry the stranded nationals in a 1,200-seater ferry chartered by India. The ship, Scotia Prince, is expected to reach the port city of Benghazi on Monday and bring some Indians to Egypt's Alexandria by March 2/3, from where they will be flown back home by special Air India flights. A total of 150 people left Libya via Tobruk by road to Salloum in Egypt.