India Evacuates Over 4,200 Nationals Under Operation Sindhu: MEA

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 26th June: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday announced that over 4,200 Indian nationals have been successfully evacuated from Iran and Israel as part of the ongoing Operation Sindhu. The evacuation effort was launched on June 18 in response to rising regional tensions and closed airspace in conflict-affected areas.

Addressing the weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, “We have so far evacuated 3,426 Indian nationals from Iran and 818 Indian nationals from Israel under Operation Sindhu.”

In addition to Indian citizens, the operation also rescued 11 OCI cardholders, 9 Nepalese nationals, a number of Sri Lankan nationals, and one Iranian national who is the spouse of an Indian citizen. A total of 14 special flights were operated from Mashhad in Iran, Yerevan in Armenia, and Ashgabat in Turkmenistan to facilitate the evacuation.

Mr. Jaiswal confirmed that one final flight from Armenia was scheduled to land later in the evening, marking the conclusion of the Iran evacuation leg. “With this final flight, all Indians who wished to return from Iran will be back home,” he said.

Regarding Israel, he noted that four flights were mounted to evacuate 818 Indian nationals. Due to the closure of Israeli airspace, Indian nationals were first transported to neighboring Jordan and Egypt. From there, they were airlifted back to India.

“We are thankful to the governments of Egypt, Jordan, and Israel for their cooperation and support during this operation,” Jaiswal said. “Our embassies in Israel, Jordan, and Egypt worked closely with the MEA headquarters to coordinate efforts.”

He also extended gratitude to the Iranian government for opening its airspace to enable the evacuations, as well as to the governments of Turkmenistan and Armenia for their assistance.

Operation Sindhu comes in the wake of mounting instability in the Middle East region. According to the MEA, approximately 10,000 Indian nationals were in Iran and around 40,000 in Israel at the time the operation was initiated.