A special evacuation flight under Operation Sindhu carrying 173 Indian nationals from Iran arrived in New Delhi late Thursday evening, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed.
The evacuation flight, which departed from Yerevan, Armenia, touched down at 10:30 PM (IST) on June 26, marking another milestone in India’s large-scale repatriation efforts amid rising tensions in the region.
“#OperationSindhu A special evacuation flight from Yerevan, Armenia, landed in New Delhi at 22:30 hrs on 26th June, bringing home 173 Indian nationals from Iran. As part of #OperationSindhu, a total of 4415 Indian nationals (3597 from Iran and 818 from Israel) have been evacuated so far using 19 special evacuation flights including 3 IAF aircraft. 14 OCI card-holders, 9 Nepali nationals, 4 Sri Lankan nationals and 1 Iranian spouse of an Indian national were also evacuated from Iran,” MEA spokesperson said.
Several evacuees expressed heartfelt thanks to the Indian government for the smooth and safe return.
“The government helped us in every aspect; they did whatever they could,” said an Indian student who was among those evacuated.
“I thank our Prime Minister, External Affairs Ministry, on behalf of all the students, as we received very good facilities,” added another student.
Earlier during a press briefing, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that Operation Sindhu had been launched on June 18, with the goal of evacuating Indian nationals from conflict-affected regions. The operation has so far helped 3,597 Indians return from Iran and 818 from Israel.
“We launched Operation Sindhu on the 18th of June. We have around 10,000 people from the Indian community in Iran, around 40,000 people in Israel who are Indian nationals,” said Jaiswal.
He also acknowledged the diplomatic and logistical support from several nations in facilitating the safe return of Indian citizens.
“We made a request, and they [Iran] hope to open the airspace for us to evacuate our nationals. We are grateful to the government of Iran for this special gesture. We are also thankful to the government of Turkmenistan and Armenia for helping us evacuate our people,” he added.
Operation Sindhu was launched amid escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, aiming to ensure the safety of thousands of Indian nationals residing in the region.