Under ‘Operation Sindhu’, India to Help Those It Relocated Within Iran Leave the Country
New Delhi: India on Wednesday (June 18) has officially dubbed its initiative to evacuate its citizens from Iran as ‘Operation Sindhu’, announcing that it intends to move out Indians it has helped relocate to safer areas within the country amid the ongoing Iranian-Israeli conflict.
In a press release, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the embassy in Tehran has been helping many Indian nationals move “from areas seeing increased hostilities” to “relatively [safe] areas within the country and to subsequently evacuate them using the available and feasible options”.
Among those the Indian embassy in Tehran has helped evacuate Iran is a group of 110 students who were in the country's north and who travelled by road to neighbouring Armenia “under the supervision of our missions” in the two nations, the MEA said.
These students left Armenia's capital Yerevan by flight and will reach Delhi early on Thursday, it added, thanking the Armenian and Iranian governments for facilitating their evacuation.
Hostilities between Israel and Iran entered their sixth day on Wednesday, with two sides continuing to fire missiles at each other.
The death toll in Israel is estimated at 24 while that in Iran is thought to be at least 224.
Several powerful explosions were reported from Tehran on Wednesday evening as Israel pressed on with its ‘Operation Rising Lion’ – whose launch on Friday sparked the hostilities – and air raid sirens went off in Israel in the face of a fresh tranche of Iranian missile launches.
Earlier this week, the Indian embassy in Tehran facilitated the relocation of around 600 students from the Iranian capital to the city of Qom about 150 kilometres to the south.
Some Indian nationals remained stranded as they were unable to access the Internet to receive information from the embassy, while others still headed to Iran's borders on their own.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has refused to heed US President Donald Trump's demand to surrender, while the latter has said he ‘may or may not’ involve his country in the conflict by ordering a strike on Iran.
Meanwhile in Israel, Tel Aviv has held discussions with Indian officials regarding the evacuation of Indian nationals from the country, ambassador to India Reuven Azar said yesterday.
The Indian embassy in Israel pointed citizens to overland border crossings out of Israel and noted that Indians are eligible to apply for eVisas with the Jordanian and Egyptian governments.
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