Look: India Evacuates 290 Students, Pilgrims From Iran In Latest Mission

India continued to evacuate its citizens amid Iran's conflict with Israel, with close to 300 nationals brought home by a charter flight, as part of 'Operation Sindhu,' late on Friday night.

The Indian government evacuated 290 citizens, including students and religious pilgrims, by a charter flight from Iran, Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a post on X.

The flight landed in New Delhi, India's capital, at 11.30pm (10pm UAE time), he added.

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According to Indian news agency ANI, a second flight is scheduled to land in Delhi around 3am (1.30am) UAE time.

On June 17, India had evacuated 110 students from northern Iran, the Ministry of External Affairs had said.

'Operation Sindhu' is the third such mission launched by India to evacuate citizens from conflict zones. Previously, India has undertaken Operation Ganga in 2022 to evacuate nationals from Ukraine and Operation Kaveri (Sudan) in 2023.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah provided an update on the evacuation of Indian students, mostly from the valley, stranded in Iran, emphasising the use of land routes to Armenia for their safe return.

He said over 300 to 400 students are expected to reach safer zones by Friday, from where they will be repatriated to India via Armenia. He stated, "We cannot evacuate them overnight because no airports are open, no ports are operational. We are first bringing them by road to cities where there is no bombing, and from there, efforts are being made to bring them back to India via Armenia. Today (Friday), we expect around 300 to 400 more students to arrive, most of whom are from Jammu and Kashmir. We will bring them back home safely, and there is a sense of hope all around," he told ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)

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