Israel-Hamas War: India Launches ‘Operation Ajay’ to Bring Back Its Citizens
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 12th Oct. India launched ‘Operation Ajay’ on Wednesday to bring back its citizens who are trapped in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Launching #OperationAjay to facilitate the return from Israel of our citizens who wish to return. Special charter flights and other arrangements being put in place. Fully committed to the safety and well-being of our nationals abroad,” tweeted External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of India in Israel informed that it has emailed the first lot of registered Indian citizens for the special flight on Thursday.
“The Embassy has emailed the first lot of registered Indian citizens for the special flight tomorrow. Messages to other registered people will follow for subsequent flights,” tweeted the Indian Embassy on social media platform X.
This is not the first time India has launched such operations to bring back its citizens from conflict zones, pandemics, and natural disasters.
Previously, it had undertaken a’multi-pronged’ operation called ‘Operation Ganga’ to help with the evacuation of about 20,000 Indians, including students, from Ukraine.
Meanwhile, India launched the Vande Bharat Mission to return Indian citizens who were stuck abroad during the COVID-19 outbreak. About 60 lakh Indians were brought back during the operation’s various phases.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, 3,992 Indian residents were brought back from abroad through the naval operation Operation Samudra Setu.
India evacuated from Brussels in March 2016 after Belgium was attacked by terrorist attacks at Brussels Airport in Zaventem and the Maalbeek Metro station in central Brussels.
A Jet Airways flight returned 242 Indians, including 28 crew members, to India.
A conflict erupted in 2015 between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels. Nearly 5,600 people were evacuated from Yemen as part of Operation Raahat.
The Indian government and the Indian Armed Forces brought over 5,000 Indians back from Nepal in the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake as part of the joint relief and rescue operation Maitri. It also successfully evacuated 170 foreign nationals from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Germany.
