With the tension between Iran and Israel increasing, India has started a massive evacuation exercise, Operation Sindhu, to repatriate its citizens who were trapped in the war-torn areas. Indian authorities on Thursday announced the evacuation of 272 Indian nationals and three Nepali citizens in the Iranian city of Mashhad. They landed in New Delhi at midnight on a special charter flight.
The newest evacuation was reported on the heels of several other successful evacuations over the last couple of days. On Wednesday, 296 Indians and four Nepal nationals were also evacuated from Iran. On Monday, India evacuated more than 1,100 individuals in and out of Iran and Israel as a rapid reaction to its security scenario, which was worsening by the minute.
In order to provide safe evacuation out of Israel, India employed the services of the Indian Air Force through C-17 heavy-lift airplanes to ferry out more than 400 people who were initially relocated into safer grounds in Jordan and Egypt by land tracks. Also, there was a chartered flight to Amman in Jordan that ferried 161 Indians who had entered the country through the roads to Amman, Jordan.
Later in the day, another two charter flights operated by the Indian airline returned to India with 573 Indians, three Sri Lankans, and two Nepalese nationals, making it 578.
The evacuations under Operation Sindhu are a result of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, which has turned into full-fledged hostilities over the last week. There have been hundreds of exchanged missiles and drones between the two countries, which are directed towards cities, military structures, and other critical infrastructure. The condition was aggravated even more on Sunday morning when the United States carried out airstrikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites, boosting the tensions in the region considerably.
The quick and organised evacuation operations in India during Operation Sindhu portray the determination of India to take care of its citizens, whoever they are, wherever they are, during an international crisis.
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