Indians in Lebanon asked to be ready for evacuation

NEW DELHI: After evacuating 49 of the 12,000 Indians from Lebanon, government on Tuesday said others have been asked to keep their documents ready for their shifting out of the country in view of escalation in fighting there.

Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said the situation in Lebanon was "grave" warranting concerns here about the safety of Indian nationals there.

The government has put in place a contingency plan to evacuate all those Indians wishing to leave Lebanon, he told reporters here.

There are about 12,000 Indians in Lebanon, of whom 49 were evacuated on Monday amid increasing military strikes by Israel. The evacuated Indians are family members of Embassy staffers in Beirut and some others living there.

Rest of the people have been advised to keep their passports and travel documents ready for their evacuation if the situation warrants, Sharma said while addressing a press conference along with Ecuador Foreign Minister Francisco Carrion Mena after their bilateral talks here.

On whether India could consider pulling out its contingent from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) in the wake of the fighting between Israel and Lebanon, he said New Delhi cannot take any decision with regard to it is part of a multilateral force.

New Delhi is in touch with the UN seeking to know about the fate of UNFIL.