NEW DELHI: A week after India set up a control room on Haiti, after situation turned volatile, a group of 12 Indians were evacuated on Thursday
“India begins Operation Indravati to evacuate its nationals from Haiti to the Dominican Republic. 12 Indians were evacuated today. Fully committed to the security and well-being of our nationals abroad. We thank the Government of the Dominican Republic for their support,” said Dr Jaishankar.
"Proud to be an Indian, Thank you Indian Embassy..Modi hai toh Mumkin Hai,” said an Indian evacuee from Haiti. He also thanked Indian envoy to Dominican Republic Ramu Abbagani for the ongoing operation.
India had first spoken about considering evacuating up to 90 of its nationals from Haiti on March 15th which was in view of the deteriorating law and order situation that had erupted after many criminal gangs had launched orchestrated attacks on key installations including airports, prisons, police stations to compel their Prime Minister, Ariel Henry to resign.
``India doesn’t have an embassy in Haiti and the situation in the country is being monitored by the Indian mission in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Around 60 Indians have registered with the authorities and will be facilitated to return if the situation arises,’’ said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal..
MEA had set up a 24 hour control room to provide information and assistance to those in Haiti and also their family members in New Delhi and Santo Domingo. In addition a 24 hour helpline has been set up.
``The Indian embassy in Santo Domingo is in touch with all Indians in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country and if required we can evacuate all Indians,’’ Jaiswal added.
The criminal gangs in Haiti have carried out attacks on various installations of the country which include police stations the international airports and some prisons.
The Indian community in Haiti include doctors, engineers and technicians and some missionaries.
Meanwhile, India’s relations with Haiti have been friendly even though there has been limited interaction. India established Diplomatic relations with Haiti in September 1996. High Commission of India in Kingston, Jaimaica was concurrently accredited to Haiti till 2002 and from 2003 till June 2022, the accredition was transferred to the Embassy of India in Havana. However, consequent upon opening of Embassy in Santo Domingo (6thJuly 2022), the accredition of the Republic of Haiti has been transferred to Embassy of India in Santo Domingo.