India has launched “Operation Sindhu” to evacuate its nationals from Iran as tensions with Israel escalate. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday that 110 Indian students were successfully evacuated from northern Iran and transported to Armenia.
A special flight carrying the evacuees departed the Armenian capital, Yerevan, at 2:55 PM local time on 18 June.
The flight will be coming to Delhi in the early hours of 19 June, a release from the ministry mentioned.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association, the 110 Indian students are from Urmia University of Medical Sciences, and include 90 from Kashmir.
Armenia is one of Iran’s neighbouring countries that Delhi is in touch with. India doesn’t have amicable ties with some of the other countries bordering Iran — Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan, after the recent Op Sindoor, where both Ankara and Baku were seen to be siding with Islamabad.
The Ministry, in a statement, had said the Indian Embassy remains continuously in touch with the community with a view to extending all feasible assistance.
Emergency helplines have been activated by both the embassy and MEA for assistance. The MEA said a 24×7 control room has been established in the ministry in view of the ongoing developments in Iran and Israel. The contact details of the control room are: 1800118797 (toll-free), +91-11-23012113, +91-11-23014104, +91-11-23017905, +91-9968291988 (WhatsApp), [email protected].
Story continues below this ad
In addition, the Indian Embassy in Tehran has set up a 24×7 emergency helpline, the MEA said. “For calls only: +98 9128109115, +98 9128109109; For WhatsApp: +98 901044557, +98 9015993320, +91 8086871709; Bandar Abbas: +98 9177699036; Zahedan: +98 9396356649; [email protected] (email),” it said.