NEW DELHI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- India said that it was arranging for the evacuation of its nationals from the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten hit by hurricane Irma.
"The evacuation of Indian nationals from #SintMaarten is a priority for us. Unfortunately, plane chartered by us could not fly today. We are organising another aircraft to carry out the operation," Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted late Monday night.
The island of Sint Maarten suffered widespread destruction after Irma made landfall last week and wreaked havoc on the Caribbean islands.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry said Saturday that it was constantly monitoring the situation in the aftermath of Irma hitting North American countries and doing its best to provide all help to its affected nationals there.
"Our missions in Venezuela, the Netherlands, France and the U.S. are constantly monitoring the situation ... They are in constant touch with the Indian diaspora affected by Irma and with local government officials," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
Hurricane Irma, a category 5 storm, pounded the Bahamas before making landfall in Cuba's Camaguey Archipelago late Friday night and barrelling towards Flordia in the United States.
