SRINAGAR: In a massive and urgent evacuation operation unfolding across Iran, nearly 1000 Indian students, including over 500 from Jammu and Kashmir, have been brought back to India over the last 36 hours, with special flights landing in Delhi amidst a dangerous and fast-changing conflict zone.
The largest chunk arrived Saturday evening when Mahan Air flight IRM071A from Mashad landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 4:30 pm with 256 Indian nationals, including around 160 Kashmiri students. The same night, a second flight is scheduled to land at 11:30 pm, bringing in another batch of nearly 290 students, of whom 250 are Kashmiris.
“These two flights together will have evacuated around 350 Kashmiri students. This marks the successful return of nearly 40 per cent of the total number of students from the region who were stranded in Iran,” said Nasir Khuehami, of Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA).
The evacuation effort, part of India’s Operation Sindhu, was expedited after Israel launched overnight airstrikes on Mashad, delaying Saturday morning’s scheduled flight and heightening fears among students and their families.
Still, hundreds of Kashmiri students are in conflict zones including Tehran, Kerman, Shiraz, Gilan and Arak.
The Ministry of External Affairs, which is coordinating with the Iranian government and other regional partners, acknowledged the exceptional decision by Iran to partially reopen its airspace to allow the safe return of Indian nationals. Armenia and Turkmenistan are also assisting in ground coordination and air transfers.
Reports suggest that almost 700 Kashmiri students are still stuck in Iran.
Meanwhile, the homeward journey has not been without further trouble. A bus carrying 14 Kashmiri girl students broke down multiple times on the Pathankot highway while ferrying them from Delhi to Srinagar.
Special arrangements have been made for transport from Delhi Airport to Srinagar via Deluxe AC buses.
“This is a difficult operation but also one that shows what is possible with coordination, urgency and compassion,” said Iranian Deputy Chief of Mission Mohammad Javad Hosseini, confirming that Iran had granted India special permission to operate flights through restricted airspace.
