OPERATION INDRAVATI

Why in News?                                                                                                        

India launched ‘Operation Indravati’ to evacuate its citizens from the turmoil-stricken Haiti to the neighbouring Dominican Republic. S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister, confirmed the launch of the rescue mission via a post on X.

What is Haiti Crisis?

• Haiti is currently in a state of emergency due to escalating violence attributed to gang warfare, resulting in the virtual disappearance of the government.
• The UN reports that gang control 80 per cent of Haiti’s capital, with ongoing clashes in the remaining areas.
• Haiti has been plunged into a severe humanitarian, political and security crisis following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.
• India is monitoring the situation through its mission at Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, which has no embassy in Haiti.
• There are between 75 and 90 Indians in Haiti and about 60 of them have registered with Indian authorities to return to India if need be.

What are features of Haiti?

• It is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.
• It occupies the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, sharing a border with the Dominican Republic on the eastern side.
• Capital: Port-au-Prince
• Largest Lake: Étang Saumâtre
• Largest Gulf: The Gulf of Gonâv
• Haiti is also neighboured by Jamaica to the west and Cuba to the northwest.
• Official Languages: French, Haitian Creole.
• Major Mountain Ranges: Massif de la Selle, Massif du Nord.
• It is the world’s first independent Black-led republic.
• The nation underwent about two centuries of Spanish colonial rule and more than a century of French rule.