In an extraordinary move, Iran has opened its airspace exclusively for Indian flights to evacuate its students stranded in the country amid its hostilities with Israel.

Under India's evacuation program, Operation Sindhu, Mahan Air chartered flights from Mashhad have been arranged to bring approximately 1,000 Indians back home. The first of these flights will land in Delhi tonight.

“We have scheduled these chartered flights for the Indians who want to get out,” authorities confirmed, emphasising that the operation is aimed at ensuring the safety of Indian nationals amid escalating regional tensions.

This comes two days after India launched 'Operation Sindhu' to evacuate its nationals from Iran amid escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel. The operation followed escalating tensions in the Middle East region amid continued Israel's military strikes inside Iran and the widening scope of the conflict.

As the first step in the evacuation effort, 110 Indian students were safely moved out of northern Iran and transported across the border into Armenia. The journey was supervised jointly by the Indian missions in Iran and Armenia. The students then boarded a special flight from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, at 2:55 pm on June 18, and landed safely in New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday.

There are about 10,000 Indians in Iran. Of which, there are approximately 1,500-2,000 students and 6,000 people who have been living and working there.

A day after the successful evacuation of students from Iran, the government on Thursday launched the evacuation for Indians who wish to leave Israel amid growing tensions.

According to an official statement, Indian nationals will be evacuated through land borders from Israel, following which arrangements will be made for their travel back to India by air. The Embassy of India in Tel Aviv will oversee the logistics and coordination of this operation.

Source: India Today