New Delhi, June 19 - The first flight carrying 110 Indian students evacuated from Iran via Armenia in the midst of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran reached Delhi early this morning. After being evacuated from Tehran, these Indian students were taken to Armenia via the border. Under Operation Sindhu, the entire operation was managed by the Indian Embassy in Tehran.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said that the remaining Indians who had left Tehran are also being brought back. Singh, who is also the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said, "We have kept the planes ready. We are sending another plane today. We are evacuating some more people from Turkmenistan. Our mission has kept the phone line open 24 hours for any such help or appeal. We will send more planes to evacuate Indian citizens as the situation dictates.” He thanked Turkmenistan and Armenia for their support.
“We were among the first Indians to be safely evacuated from Iran. The situation is very critical. We were scared. We thank the Indian government and the Indian embassy for working very quickly and efficiently to bring us here,” said Warta, one of the Kashmiri students who reached India from Armenia. “We were attacked all around. When the Indian government knocked on our door, it felt like home,” he told PTI Videos. Armenian officials were also very helpful, he said.
Mir Khalif, an MBBS student who landed in Delhi, said the situation in Iran was tense. “We could see missiles. There was war going on. There was bombing all around us. We were very scared of the situation. I hope we never see that day again.” Khalif thanked the Indian government for first bringing them back to Armenia and from there to India. “There are still students stranded in Iran. They are being sent to safe places. We hope they will also be brought back to India soon,” Khalif said.
Another Indian student, Ali Akbar, said that while he was travelling in a bus, he saw a missile and a drone fall. The student from Delhi said, “The situation being described in the news is true. The situation is very bad. Tehran has been destroyed.” Some anxious parents of students were seen waiting for their children outside the airport.
Haider Ali, father of Maz Haider (21), an MBBS student in Iran, thanked the Indian government for the rescue efforts. “We are really happy. The students have been brought back home safely. We thank the Indian government for this,” he told PTI Videos. But we are saddened that some students are still stuck in Tehran.” They urged the authorities to evacuate these students safely.
Sameer Alam’s father Parvez Alam was also seen waiting for his son at the airport. Parvez Alam, a resident of Bulandshahr, said, “He has been studying in Urmia for two years. Everything was fine but recently the situation deteriorated. We were very stressed. But the Indian government sent the students to Armenia where they were accommodated in good hotels. We are grateful to the Indian government.”
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for initiating the evacuation effort. “We hope that all the remaining students will be evacuated soon,” the association said in a statement.