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On the heels of the Navy embarking on seaborne repatriation of Indians stranded overseas owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, tells S. Anandan in an interview that the force is at the ready for evacuation of Indians from abroad or for movement of stranded islanders within India, as and when ordered by the Government of India.

While the Navy has carried out several evacuations of Indian nationals and HADR missions in the past, the one that's being undertaken now is all the more challenging given the risk it poses to the ships' crew and the naval fraternity, by extension. Could you tell us how this was factored in planning for Op SamudraSetu?

The Indian Navy has considerable experience and has played a huge role in numerous evacuation operations in the past. Op Blossom in 2011, to evacuate around 15,000 stranded Indian nationals from Libya to Malta; Op Rahat in 2015 to evacuate around 5000 from Yemen; Op Nistar to bring back stranded fishermen from Socotra; are all recent examples of evacuation operations undertaken by the Indian Navy.