The Indian Navy, Air India and the Indian Air Force have been roped in to prepare for evacuating non-resident Indians stranded by the coronavirus outbreak in multiple countries of the Gulf, according to media reports.
News agency ANI reported on Tuesday that Air India and Indian Navy ships have been ordered to be on standby for evacuating potentially lakhs of people stranded in the Gulf due to the coronavirus situation. There are about 10 million Indians in the Gulf. There have been no indications on when such a mission will be launched, though various reports indicate it will begin after the lockdown ends on May 3.
ANI quoted government sources as saying, "Around 10 million Indians are in Gulf countries and many of them are living in port cities, and that is why the government has also asked Indian Navy to give a detailed plan for evacuation through sea routes." ANI reported that an Indian Navy evacuation plan submitted to the government envisages using three ships to evacuate around 1,500 people.
News 18 and The Print have reported that the INS Jalashwa, an amphibious assault ship, was being modified for the purpose of evacuation.
The INS Jalashwa was a former US Navy ship that was acquired by the Indian Navy in 2007. Weighing over 16,000 tonnes, the INS Jalashwa is the second-largest combat warship in the Indian Navy after the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. Capable of carrying tanks, the Jalashwa can carry up to 1,000 soldiers. News18 reported that the Indian Navy was modifying the INS Jalashwa by removing non-essential equipment in order to accommodate evacuees.
ANI reported on Wednesday that at least two Magar class tank-landing ships are being readied by the Indian Navy for evacuation purposes. The Indian Navy's tank-landing ships are meant for the purpose of landing tanks on shore and are significantly smaller in size than the INS Jalashwa. The Magar class ships weigh about 5,500 tonnes. The Indian Navy has at least eight tank-landing ships.
The Indian Navy had previously carried out evacuation efforts in conflict-hit areas like Lebanon (2006) and Yemen (2015). However, a potential operation in the Gulf will not only be larger in scale, but it would have to keep in mind social distancing norms.
Air India and the Indian Air Force have already evacuated Indians from countries affected by COVID-19. These included flights to China, Japan, Iran and Italy. However, a potential evacuation operation from the Gulf is expected to dwarf these flights. The Times of India reported that Indian Air Force aircraft "are being kept ready" for possible evacuation operations.
While the number of people being evacuated is unclear, an unnamed diplomat told The Financial Express that at least 5 lakh people could be brought home, making it the world's largest evacuation effort.
“This evacuation will perhaps be the largest ever. It could be at least 5 lakh… which is going to be a huge number to be evacuated by India. The largest ever so far was around a lakh a few years ago. Those being evacuated are the workers who have lost their jobs in these countries due to lockdown, or their work permits have expired. There are those who are also very keen to just come back to India. This also includes the COVID-19 positive cases, too,” the diplomat told Financial Express.