Kuwait crisis: India switches evacuation plan; Dubai now part of route
India is stepping up efforts to get its citizens out of Kuwait, as the Gulf crisis continues.
The government has switched up its plan: two ships, M.V. Akbar and M.V. Tipu Sultan, are now ferrying evacuees from Iraq's Umm Qasr port to Dubai.
From there, Air India is flying people back to Bombay, instead of the earlier direct routes to Kochi and Bombay.
48,575 Indians back home
So far, about 48,575 Indians—many from Kerala—have made it home safely since August.
But there are still almost 80,000 waiting for their turn.
NIC setting up satellite communication link
To make things smoother, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) is setting up a satellite communication link between Delhi and Amman.
With Jordan's approval, a NIC team has been in Amman since August, aiming to get earth stations and computers running by this weekend to support the evacuation.