Context: Recently, Southern separatists have seized control of Socotra Island deposing its governor and driving out forces of the Saudi-backed government.
Key Points
- The Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared self rule in the south in April, complicating U.N. efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in a war that has separatists and the government fighting as nominal allies in a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi group, who control the north.
- Recently, the STC announced it had seized government facilities and military bases on the main island of Socotra, a sparsely populated archipelago which sits at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
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About Socotra Island
- Socotra, located between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, is the largest of four islands in the Socotra Archipelago.
- The island of Socotra constitutes around 95% of the landmass of the Socotra archipelago.
- It is part of the North Indian Ocean located between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea.
- The island is officially part of Yemen and sits at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden.
- In 2008, it was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The territory is officially part of It sits at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden and lies some 240 kilometres east of the coast of Somalia and 380 kilometres south of the Arabian Peninsula.
India-Yemen Relations
- India–Yemen relations refer to the current and historical relationship of the India and Yemen. Diplomatic relations between these countries were established in November 1967 when India recognized Yemen's independence from the United Kingdom.
- Relations continue to be in good shape notwithstanding India's close partnership with Saudi Arabia or Yemen's close ties with Pakistan.
- During the outbreak of the Civil War India took a neutral stand.
- Indian doctors and nurses were perhaps the only expatriates who stayed behind and rendered humanitarian services to the people of Yemen.
- In 2015 military intervention in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia to quell the Houthi Rebellion, India undertook Operation Raahat. In the operation, Indian Armed Forces evacuated more than 4640 Indian citizens along with 960 foreign nationals of 41 countries.
- India has an embassy in Sana'a, while Yemen has an embassy in New Delhi.