IAF's transport aircraft could be sent to Libya: Antony

New Delhi, Mar 1 (PTI) Indian Defence Minister A K
Antony Tuesday said Indian Air Force's transport aircraft
could be sent to Libya to evacuate Indian citizens stranded
there if the need arises.
"Navy has also sent its ships. Air Force also is
ready. Whether it is Libya or other capitals, if the
Government wants their service, they can also be sent," he
said.
The Defence Minister was talking to reporters on the
sidelines of a ceremony to flag-in Indian Army's expedition to
the South Pole.
The IAF has kept its IL-76 aircraft on stand-by mode
for the operations at different air fields in the country. An
IL-76 can carry more than 300 passengers at one go.
The Navy has already sent two ships to Libya
including the amphibious vessel INS Jalashwa and Delhi-class
destroyer INS Delhi to help in evacuating 18,000 Indian
citizens there.
On the evacuation effort by India, Indian Navy chief
Admiral Nirmal Verma said, "Evacuation is taking place from
Tripoli and Benghazi and the External Affairs Ministry has
hired ferry boats going to Alexandria, Egypt (for
evacuation)."
"18,000 is a large number and eventually we would be
pressed to evacuate. The numbers we can carry is substantial.
On Jalashwa we can carry 1500 in one ferry, so I see there
would be enough work to be done," he said.
The Navy chief was responding to queries on the Libyan
evacuation efforts on the sidelines of a two-day
hydrographers' conference.
Air India is also operating two flights daily to
Tripoli and has sought permission to land in the interior
parts of Libya where over 1,000 Indians are believed to be
stranded.
Already more than 1,000 passengers have been brought
back to the country in the special flights operated by the
national carrier.
Right now there is a lot of confusion in the camp.
Neither the Indian embassy in Libya nor the MEA in India is
offering help or advice. The people have two emails to contact
the embassy but both remain unanswered. Even phone calls have
drawn poor replies.
"A person at the embassy said he had far too many
calls asking for help," Dass' colleague, Om Dutt said.
"Rajdeep at the MEA control room also said he can't
do much...," another colleague added.
Earlier, top officials of J&P (O) based in Tripoli had
spoken to the Indian Ambassador to request her to help the
stranded Indians. Though, Dass was himself not present at the
meeting, he was told later that even she too had no solution
just yet, other than offering an airlift from Tripoli.
Meanwhile, almost 500 Indians at the camp turned up to
hear George Markouzis, the Greek site manager of the company,
who had chosen to stay back at the site. The crowd was
agitated and Dass had to help Markouzis soothe frayed nerves.
Markouzis, himself, is fairly composed and told PTI,
"No problem here yet...The company is trying its best to take
the people to Tripoli... but it would be far better if the
Indian government can arrange for the people to be flown out
from Sebha."
"The anxiety is building. People are sensing danger.
They realise that other countries have flown out their
nationals...," Dass said.
Fears have only got worse with people having to rely
on television channels for news about the unrest. It is
adding to the confusion, he said. "We really don't know what
is happening around us. There are conflicting reports... We
are finding it difficult to assess the situation. We wish the
MEA was more sensitive to our plight here."
Dass' son Joyy, who is trying to rally help from
India, meanwhile, spoke about the worry of the families back
home. "These Arab regimes are known to set the oil fields on
fire as the last line of their defence... We fear for our
people."