India evacuates 75 nationals from Syria

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) India on Tuesday evacuated 75 Indian nationals from Syria, two days after rebel forces overthrew President Bashar Assad's authoritarian government.
    The evacuation, coordinated by the embassies of India in Damascus and Beirut, was put into effect following an assessment of the security situation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
    "The Government of India today evacuated 75 Indian nationals from Syria, following recent developments in that country," it said in a late-night statement.
    "The evacuees included 44 'zaireen' from Jammu and Kashmir who were stranded at Saida Zainab. All Indian nationals have safely crossed over to Lebanon and will return by available commercial flights to India," it said.
    The MEA said the government accords the highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad.
    "Indian nationals remaining in Syria are advised to stay in touch with the Indian Embassy in Damascus," it said.
    "The government will continue to monitor the situation closely," the MEA added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)