India Executes Major Airlift From Conflict Zones | Operation Sindhu

In a major development, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has confirmed the successful completion of Operation Sindhu, India’s large-scale evacuation mission launched on 18th June. Addressing the media, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that over 4,200 individuals, including Indian nationals, OCI card holders, Nepalese and Sri Lankan citizens, as well as the Iranian spouse of an Indian national, have been brought back safely. From Iran, a total of 3,426 Indian nationals were evacuated along with 11 OCI card holders, 9 Nepalese nationals and others via 14 special flights operating from Mashhad, Yerevan (Armenia), and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan). One final flight from Armenia was expected to land later in the evening, marking the conclusion of the Iran phase of the operation. In Israel, due to closed airspace, 818 Indian nationals were safely escorted to neighbouring countries—Jordan and Egypt—before being flown back to India. The Government of India has extended its gratitude to the governments of Iran, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkmenistan and Armenia for their cooperation in this complex cross-border humanitarian effort.