New Delhi: A special flight carrying 110 Indian students evacuated from war-hit Iran landed safely in Delhi, bringing relief to families waiting at the airport. Amongst those on board were 90 students from Jammu and Kashmir.
The students, who had earlier been shifted to Armenia as part of a government-coordinated evacuation effort, reportedly said that the situation in Iran is bad and that they are happy to be back with their families.
India, on June 18, launched 'Operation Sindhu' to evacuate its nationals from Iran amid escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel. Singh assured that the Indian government is actively working to ensure the safe return of every Indian stranded in the region.
"We, on our part, are making every effort to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from Iran. It is a major responsibility, and we are committed to fulfilling it. We have more planes on standby," he told reporters.
According to Singh, over 350 evacuation requests have already been received, and the Ministry of External Affairs, in coordination with Indian embassies abroad, has set up 24-hour helplines to handle the ongoing crisis.
"Today, another plane will be going to evacuate people from Turkmenistan. Our missions have opened 24-hour helplines to receive evacuation requests. As the situation evolves, we will be sending more planes or charter flights to evacuate all our Indian nationals from Iran," he said.
Singh also thanked the governments of Turkmenistan and Armenia for their cooperation in facilitating safe passage and transit amid challenging conditions.
