New Delhi: India has successfully evacuated over 4,200 nationals from conflict-hit regions of Iran and Israel as part of Operation Sindhu, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Thursday.
Briefing the media, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced that as of now, 3,426 Indian nationals have been airlifted from Iran, and 818 from Israel, marking a significant achievement in the ongoing rescue mission launched on June 18.
“We have around 10,000 Indian nationals in Iran and about 40,000 in Israel,” Jaiswal stated. “From Iran, we’ve evacuated 3,426 Indians, 11 OCI cardholders, 9 Nepalese citizens, some Sri Lankan nationals, and one Iranian national who is the spouse of an Indian citizen.”
Evacuation flights departed from Mashhad (Iran), as well as Yerevan (Armenia) and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), bringing Indians safely home aboard 14 special flights.
“One more flight is en route from Armenia and will land later this evening. With this, all Indian nationals who wished to be evacuated from Iran will be back home,” he added.
Evacuations from Israel via Bordering Nations
Due to Israel’s airspace closure, Indian nationals were transported to Jordan and Egypt, from where special return flights were arranged.
“In total, 818 Indian nationals were brought back in four flights. We are extremely thankful to the governments of Egypt and Jordan for their cooperation,” Jaiswal said.
He also expressed gratitude to the governments of Israel, Iran, Armenia, and Turkmenistan for facilitating India’s evacuation efforts.
“We appreciate Iran’s decision to open its airspace for evacuation flights. The cooperation of all regional partners has been invaluable,” he noted.
Jaiswal commended the coordination between Indian embassies in Tel Aviv, Amman, Cairo, and Tehran, along with the MEA headquarters in Delhi, calling it a “remarkable example of diplomatic teamwork.”
Operation Sindhu was launched in response to escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel, following Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks and regional security concerns. India swiftly activated contingency plans to ensure the safety of its citizens.