Rescue Operations: How Modi Govt became a Sankatmochak for Indians stranded abroad

India has made the safety and well-being of her expatriate populations a central concern of her Foreign Policy. Expatriates play a major role in a world of unprecedented cross-border mobility because of their remittances, security profile, or political influence. India, as of date, has a diverse geographically distributed and politically influential diaspora important to/for her economic wealth. Many of them hold an Indian passport, and few are old resident individuals of Indian origin who are permanent residents of those countries who claim/trace their ancestry back to India. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, an estimated 11 million Indian citizens permanently reside abroad, and almost 16 million people of Indian origin hold other citizenships, with an average Migration growth rate of 4.5 per cent. A big chunk of Indians living abroad work as Caregivers.

Still, thousands of students, IT professionals, and diamond traders are generally in touch with each other and are constantly taking stock of the situation. They regularly contribute wealth, which is vital to Indian Economic growth and development. In addition, Indians travel on tourist visas. Therefore, tracking the Kipping and protecting overseas citizens is now important for the Government. This is possible through accurate documentation, coordination, standardisation, and improved civil and military evac ops (Evacuation Operations).

A rescue mission is a planned activity involving many people performing various actions organised to free them from danger or confinement and bring them out safely. Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve saving lives, removing personnel from danger and offering civil protection to them. Civil protection is an effort to protect citizens of a state, generally non-combatants, from human-made and/or natural disasters. It uses the principles of Preparation, Response/emergency evac and Recovery. Preparation includes a) Sharing of information; b) Contribute to informing the public, in view of increasing citizens’ level of Self-protection; c) Collect and disseminating validated emergency information; d) Pool information on National Civil Protection capabilities, Military and Civil resources and e) Ensure efficient information sharing between different authorities.

The response consists of a) warning civilians so they can ensure safety and protect assets and b) staffing a response Team, which is always problematic in a national emergency. Therefore, capability has to be generated/is required to be maintained by local and state agencies, with an emergency reserve provided by specialised military units. Recovery entails physical evacuation and bringing back the citizens from affected countries using available means, such as ships, aircraft, or surface transport.

Over the time, Indian Government has launched several successful missions to bring back her citizens who were stranded in many countries affected by natural disasters, conflicts, or other crises. Indian Government accords the highest priority to the welfare of Indians abroad and has provided all possible support to Indians in distress. Operation Ajay, Ganga, and Kaveri were/are in line with the above rescue operations for Indians who were stranded abroad since the present Government assumed power in 2014. Details of such operations are enumerated below.

Operation Maitri, 2015 was a Rescue and Relief operation in Nepal by the Government of India in collaboration with the Indian Army and Air Force in the aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake. Like a good neighbour, India responded in no time and joined hands in ‘Rescue and Restoration efforts’. Indian Army involved Nepali ex-servicemen from her retired Nepali Gorkha Soldiers Pool for interface for Guidance, Relief and Rescue. Operation Raahat, 2015 was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian and Foreign Nationals from Yemen during Military Intervention by Saudi Arabia and her Allies during the Yemeni Crisis. Indian Navy began evacuation by Sea Route from Port of Aden and rescued more than 4,640 Indian citizens in Yemen along with 960 Foreign Nationals from 41 different countries.

Operation Sankat Mochan, 2016 was an operation of the Indian Air Force to evacuate Indian citizens and other Foreign Nationals during the Civil War in South Sudan. This operation was carried out after bloody Juba clashes. There were around 600 Indians in South Sudan, around 450 in Juba, and other parts of the country. Two C 130 Globemasters of the Indian Air Force were deployed to evacuate.

Operation Samudra Setu, 2020 was carried out when the world was battling the coronavirus pandemic and witnessing Mass Casualties. India set an example by not just helping the affected nations but also bringing back her citizens from Across the Globe. A Total of 3,992 Indian citizens were repatriated to India by sea. Indian Naval Ships Jal Ashwa, a Landing Platform Dock, and INSs Airavat, Shardul and Magar, Landing Ship Tanks, participated in this operation, lasting for over 55 days and involved traversing more than 23,000 km by sea.

Simultaneously, Operations Vande Bharat and Air Bubble were launched to evacuate 3.20 crore people from various countries by air and sea, with Rs 22.54 crore spent on embarkation/disembarkation. Operation Devi Shakti, 2021 was a combined operation of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force to evacuate Indian citizens and Foreign Nationals from Afghanistan after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul. Taliban and her Allied Militant Groups began a widespread offensive soon after the pulling out of American Troops from Afghanistan in 2021. Amid a deteriorating security situation in Kabul, India evacuated over 800 people in six flights, including 206 Afghans and 15 Foreign Nationals.

Operation Ganga, 2022 was an Evacuation Mission by the Indian Government to rescue its citizens stranded in Russia, Ukraine, and neighbouring countries when the Ukraine War started in February. Indian citizens were also evacuated/ transported from Romania, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, and Slovakia to India with assistance from these countries. India had about 25,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine, of which over 18,000 were students. 18,292 Indians had been flown to India in 76 Civil and 14 Air Force Flights. Four Union Ministers, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and General VK Singh (Retd), were pressed into action to oversee the evacuation. India, as a Humanitarian Gesture, has sent Relief material to Ukraine, including Medicines and Essentials. Over 18,000 Indians were flown home under this operation.

Operation Kaveri, 2023 was again a combined operation conducted by the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and Foreign Nationals from Sudan in INS Sumedha along with Four more Warships and 18 C 130 Hercules aircraft of the Indian Air Force and 20 Commercial Flights by air and sea. Alarmed by the growing tensions in conflict, India, like other countries, ventured out for the massive evacuation of 4097 of her Nationals and 136 Foreign Nationals from Sudan. Operation Dost, 2023 was a Search and Rescue Operation by the Indian Government to aid Syria and Turkey after a massive earthquake, which totally devastated both countries. Operation Ajay, 2023/24 was undertaken by the Indian Government as the Israel Hamas Conflict intensified. Everybody around the world scurried to bring home their own citizens who were caught up in fighting or Trying to flee the conflict. More than 19,000 Indians were in Israel at that time of the day. A sizable portion of them were Caretakers/Helpers. In addition, there were roughly 3,000 Students/IT professionals and Diamond Traders. India launched this operation to facilitate the safe return of those who wanted/wished to come back home from Israel after the October 07 2023, attack by the Hamas Militant on Israel, triggering fresh tensions in the Region. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced the launch of the operation On social media X. According to sources, India has evacuated 1309 Indian Nationals,14 OCI Holders and 20 Nepalis.

India evacuated its citizens in a Phased manner. Indian Embassy in Israel compiled lists of Indian citizens for each Phase and informed them accordingly. After the First Evacuation Flight, messages were sent to registered individuals for subsequent flights. Special Charter Flights and other necessary arrangements were put in place. Additionally, MEA has established a 24/7 control room in Delhi to oversee this operation. Separate Emergency Helplines in Tel Aviv and Ramallah were operationalised to monitor the situation in Israel and Palestine. India assisted more than 18,000 Indians in Diverse groups of Students, Caregivers, Diamond traders, and IT Professionals. On March 24, Operation Indravati was launched to evacuate Indian Nationals from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.12 Indians have been evacuated as part of this operation. India is ready to evacuate all its citizens from Haiti if need be due to a crisis in Haiti.

India is committed to the safety of its nationals, as evident by the rescue operations mentioned above. The present Government has institutionalised lessons learned from previous experiences and has improved its diplomatic and military capabilities with an emphasis on coordination. India has conducted more than thirty evacuation operations across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. However, there was no formal doctrine or emergency plan till 2015. Success in those operations was mostly due to the expertise of the Indian diplomatic corps, flagship air carrier, and armed forces. Such individual efforts lacked the formulation of standard operating procedures and coordination. However, with the change of Guards, the Modi Government has done a reassessment of its evacuation operations, institutionalised best practices, developed sops, trained her diplomatic cadre to operate in hostile environments and increased coordination with other Governments. Armed forces are now expertly working in total tandem with civilian authorities. This Government has established a Permanent coordinating mechanism that ensures/ facilitates communication and joint operations across national, regional, and international bureaucratic and military levels.

There is unprecedented migration and mobility in the world, leading to a growing gap between territorial control and the population of a country. India, as an emerging world power, has displayed both intent and capabilities to conduct such complex missions by expanding her consular, diplomatic, and military assets to support and defend the Indian Diaspora. Diaspora security has become a national interest. When natural catastrophes or conflicts erupt abroad, the present Government conducts complex evacuation operations to safely bring its people back home. As India’s diaspora is expanding and becoming more mobile and assertive, evacuation operations are likely to become more frequent, complex and distant, posing progressive challenges to capacity and coordination.

As the Navy, Air Force, and, in some cases, Army have developed increased new capabilities and interests to operate Out of area/Overseas, there is a need for a new civil-military balance in decision-making, coordination, and Operational matters in support of such contingency operations, By enhancing the capacity to conduct evacuation operations and ensure the safety of her citizens abroad, Indian Government will be pursuing her immediate national interests by projection of power and assume a leading role beyond her subcontinental shores.