First Flight With 110 Evacuated Indian Students From Iran Lands in Delhi

The first flight carrying 110 Indian students evacuated from conflict-hit Iran landed in Delhi early Thursday morning. Amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, the students were initially moved from Tehran to Armenia, as part of arrangements made by the Indian Embassy on Tuesday under ‘Operation Sindhu’.

"We have planes ready. We will be sending another plane today. We are evacuating some more people from Turkmenistan. Our missions have opened 24 hour lines for any request for evacuation. As the situation evolves, we will be sending more planes to evacuate Indian nationals," PTI quoted Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh. He also thanked Turkmenistan and Armenia for their suppor.

Varta, a student from Kashmir, also said that the Armenian authorities were helpful.  "We were the first ones to be evacuated from Iran. The situation was quite critical. We were terrified. We thank Indian government and Indian embassy who worked very fast and swiftly to bring us here,” she added.

Mir Khalif, an MBBS student who also arrived in Delhi, said that they could see the missiles in Iran.  “There was a war going on. Our neighbourhood was bombed. We were very afraid of the situation. I hope we will never see those days again," PTI reported.

Khalif also said that there are students still stuck in Iran who are being relocated to safer places. He said he hopes they will also be airlifted to India soon.  

Father of 21-year-old Maaz Haider, an MBBS student in Iran, thanked the Indian government for evacuating the students.

"We are really happy. The students have been brought back home safely. We thank the Indian government for this. But we are sad that students, who are stuck in Tehran, have not been rescued," he told PTI Videos, and urged the authorities to evacuate students still stranded in Tehran.  

Ali Akbar, an Indian student who lives in Delhi, said that they saw a missile and a drone falling while they were travelling in a bus.  "The situation that has been shown in the news is correct. It is extremely bad. Tehran has been destroyed," Akbar said. 

The Jammu and Kashmir Students' Association thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar for the evacuation effort. "We remain hopeful that all remaining students will be evacuated soon," they said in a statement.

Israel and Iran have entered the seventh consecutive day of conflict. The hostilities began when Israel attacked Iran by targeting its military leaders and nuclear infrastructure accusing it of developing nuclear weapons.