India yesterday evacuated around 700 Indians stranded in the war-battered
Lebanon. "They are being taken on INS Mumbai, an Indian naval warship, to
Larcana in Cyprus. The ship will reach Friday morning," Indo-Asian News Service
quoted Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna as saying.
Some citizens of Nepal and other foreign countries were also evacuated in the
Indian ship.
Thursday's evacuation by INS Mumbai is one of the largest single evacuation
operations from Lebanon during the current crisis, Sarna said.
The High Commission of India in Nicosia, in consultation with Cyprus
authorities, has made arrangements for the evacuated Indian nationals to be
moved from the port to the airport. An airlift will be organized soon to send
them to India. Around300 Indian nationals are expected to be evacuated Friday.
Around 1,000 Indian nationals had contacted the Indian Embassy in Beirut for
assistance to leave Lebanon.
