&w=3840&q=100)
Operation Sindhu continues, 517 Indians returned to India from Iran: MEA
More than 500 Indian nationals have returned home from Iran under Operation Sindhu so far, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.
The MEA shared the update about the status of the evacuation operation in a post on X.
More Indian nationals, including students, arrived in Delhi late Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday after being evacuated from Iran as its military confrontation with Israel intensified.
India announced the launch of Operation Sindhu to evacuate its nationals from Iran on Wednesday.
"#OperationSindhu flight brings citizens home. India evacuated 290 Indian nationals from Iran, including students and religious pilgrims by a charter flight. The flight arrived in New Delhi at 2330 hrs on 20 June and was received by Secretary (CPV& OIA) Arun Chatterjee," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X.
"Government of India is grateful to the Government of Iran for the facilitation of the evacuation process," he said.
In another post, he shared details about an evacuation flight that arrived from Turkmenistan.
"#OperationSindhu continues. A special evacuation flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan landed in New Delhi at 0300 hrs on 21st June, bringing Indians from Iran home. With this, so far 517 Indian nationals from Iran have returned home under Operation Sindhu," he said.
The first batch of 110 Indian nationals, evacuated from conflict-hit Iran under Operation Sindhu, arrived in India on Thursday, with many evacuees sharing firsthand accounts of the frightening situation they witnessed before being moved to safer locations.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scroll.in
29 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
How the Israel-Iran conflict could impact India
On June 13, the Israeli military began striking what it claimed were nuclear targets and other sites in Iran, with the aim of stalling Tehran's nuclear programme. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on Israel. The official toll in Iran is at least 430 so far, while at least 25 persons have died in Israel. The continued exchange of fire has led to concerns of a wider regional conflict that the United States could get drawn into. Washington is an ally of Israel and acts as a guarantor of the country's security. Tehran has rejected US President Donald Trump's demand for an ' unconditional surrender ' and vowed to fight back. The prevailing uncertainty has led to a spike in global oil prices. The price of benchmark Brent crude had jumped to $78 per barrel by Thursday from $69 per barrel on June 12, the day before the conflict began. But the spike was not because of Israeli military's strikes reportedly on the Shahran oil depot in Tehran and one of Iran's largest refineries in Shahr Rey. These actions have little impact on Iranian energy exports. Instead, the spike in prices primarily stem from concerns about the possible blocking of the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict. The closure could threaten global energy security. The chokepoint The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterbody that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. In 2024, an average 20 million barrels of oil was transported through the strait every day. That was about one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption. This makes the Strait of Hormuz one of the most strategically important chokepoints. Iran has in the past threatened to block the waterbody in retaliation to pressure from the West. On Sunday, the Iranian Parliament decided that the Strait of Hormuz should be closed, state-run Press TV quoted lawmaker Major General Kowsari as saying. The final decision will be taken by the Supreme National Security Council, the member of the parliamentary national security commission added. Unlike other chokepoints such as the Suez Canal or the Strait of Malacca, there is no practical alternative for fuel supplies to bypass the Strait of Hormuz in large volumes. Cargo ships are already sailing closer to the Omani coast and have been advised by maritime agencies and governments to avoid Iranian waters in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported on Wednesday. An attempt to shutter the strait will not go unchallenged because of the regional powers' strategic interest in keeping fuel supply open. But the ensuing military confrontation may still disrupt supplies to some extent. India's interest When Tel Aviv and Tehran last exchanged missile fire in October, former Indian diplomat Navdeep Suri had told Scroll that if the conflict escalated and became an all-out war, Iran, feeling threatened, had the capacity to block the Strait of Hormuz. In that case, New Delhi will be staring at a scenario that will 'directly impact India's energy security', he had said. 'A very large chunk of India's energy supplies come from there and that could really be serious for us,' explained Suri, who served as India's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. 'It's in our interest that it doesn't get out of hand.' India consumes 5.5 million barrels of crude per day for refining. Of this, 1.5 million barrels come through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. If the strait gets blocked, Amena Bakr, the head of Middle East and OPEC+ insights at analytics firm Kpler, told CNBC International on June 13 that oil prices could jump to three-digits. To put the impact of such a scenario into context: a spike of every $10 per barrel drives up inflation in India by about 0.5%, financial services company Morgan Stanley had estimated in April 2024. But Puri told NDTV that closing the strait was not in Iran's own interest. Yet, he said, India remained comfortably placed to meet its fuel needs, adding that New Delhi can tap into alternative supplies if needed. Here is a summary of the week's other top stories. Countering Trump's claims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told United States President Donald Trump that India will never accept mediation to resolve tensions with Pakistan. The topic came up during a phone call when Trump asked for the details about India's military strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on Pakistan in May, said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. Trump was told that India had agreed to the ceasefire only on Islamabad's request, said Misri. The 'halt to military action was directly between India and Pakistan', the foreign secretary quoted Modi as having reiterated. The call between the two leaders came against the backdrop of the US president repeatedly claiming that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan. New Delhi has rejected Trump's assertions. , writes Rohan Venkataramakrishnan A thaw in relations. India and Canada agreed to reinstate high commissioners in each other's capitals. This was announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit. Other diplomatic steps 'to restore stability in the relationship' will 'follow in due course', said New Delhi. In October, New Delhi and Ottawa expelled several diplomats amid frosty bilateral relations. Ties between India and Canada strained in September 2023 after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister at the time, told his country's Parliament that intelligence agencies were actively pursuing 'credible allegations' tying agents of the Indian government to the murder of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. New Delhi has rejected Canada's allegations. The language debate. Opposition leaders criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for saying that those who speak English in India will soon feel ashamed. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that English was 'not a barrier, but a bridge', adding that the language provides employment and boosts people's self-confidence. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi said to Shah that 'the only thing to be ashamed of is imposing your will on the people and trying to destroy the pluralism of India'. Shah's comment on Thursday came against the backdrop of several state governments and regional parties accusing the Union government of imposing Hindi through the National Education Policy's three-language formula. Also on Scroll this week for a curated selection of the news that matters throughout the day, and a round-up of major developments in India and around the world every evening. What you won't get: spam.


India Today
31 minutes ago
- India Today
Operation Sindhu: 280 more Indians return from Iran via special flight
A special flight under Operation Sindhu brought back over 280 Indian nationals from war-hit Iran on Sunday. The Mahan Air flight (W50071A) landed at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Delhi, carrying mostly students and the passengers were more than 200 students from Jammu and Kashmir, along with several pilgrims who had travelled to Iran for Ziarat. Many of them held Indian flags as they stepped off the aircraft, expressing relief and gratitude for the safe evacuees praised the Government of India for acting quickly and organizing a smooth and well-coordinated rescue. Several returnees shared emotional stories about their time in Iran, where they lived in fear and uncertainty as the conflict intensified. India launched Operation Sindhu on Wednesday to evacuate its citizens from Iran amid the rising tensions between Tehran and Israel. The situation escalated after Israel carried out military strikes inside Iran, leading to growing concern for Indians stuck in the conflict Mahan Air flights carrying 1,000 Indian students, including 500 Kashmiris, from Mashhad, Iran, also landed in Delhi on Friday. A third flight also landed on Watch
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
35 minutes ago
- Business Standard
India pursuing FTAs with mature, rule-bound markets: S Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has termed India's bilateral trade agreements as the 'space to watch', and said New Delhi has, over the past 11 years, pursued trade pacts with countries that have 'more mature markets' and are more 'transparent and rule bound' compared to East Asian countries. Jaishankar said India is now more interested in key free trade agreements. He said the one with the United Kingdom is more or less finalised, the one with the European Union is in advanced stages of negotiation, and there have been several rounds of discussions between Indian and American officials for a bilateral trade agreement. In an interview to public broadcaster DD India, a link to which the minister posted on X on Saturday, Jaishankar said that in the years following economic reforms, most of India's trade agreements were with Southeast Asian nations, which 'skewed the balance' as several of these economies competed with India and did not provide market access. It was important to make the correction and reach an understanding with more mature markets, which are more transparent and rule bound. Jaishankar said India's trade pacts with the United Arab Emirates and Australia are significant achievements, describing New Delhi's push for FTAs as the 'space to watch'. In 2019, India did not join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trading bloc that comprises the 10-member ASEAN grouping and other Asia-Pacific economies, including China, Australia and Japan. He said India has, in the past 11 years, systematically tried to 'deepen our posture, our strategic posture, to have good relations with all major countries, but also other regions, so that we get into the optimal position'. In the past 11 years, the EAM said, the consistent theme underpinning India's foreign policy has been planning for a multipolar world, which India not only desires as it gives it a higher profile and more influence. 'But it is not just the question of our wishes, that is the direction in which the world is moving,' he said, which is why New Delhi, despite enormous pressure on it, maintained its relationship with Russia, he added. About India's ties with the US, he said, 'Where the US is concerned, yes, there is unpredictability, therefore at a systemic level, you stabilise it with as many linkages and relationships as possible.' On India's relations with China, Jaishankar said, 'With China, if you have to stand up to that country and we have had some very difficult periods, (and) so it is important to prepare the capabilities.' The minister said a 'really perplexing' aspect of India's China policy before 2014 was the 'complete neglect of our border infrastructure in the previous decades'. 'To have a China policy and neglect your border infrastructure was absurd,' he said. 'And that is one of the things which has changed. We have today that standing up, in defence of our national interests, along the LAC. It is because we have built the border infrastructure to make that possible,' Jaishankar said. On India's ties with its immediate neighbours, Jaishankar said that India 'should not expect smooth sailing' all the time. He said New Delhi has attempted to shape a 'collective interest' to build an inherent stability in relationships, irrespective of changes in regimes. At the end of the day, 'the logic every one of our neighbours must realise' is that working with India will 'give you benefits', and not working with India 'has a cost', he said. 'Some take longer to realise, some understand it better. One exception of course is Pakistan, because it has defined its identity under the army, in a way it has an in-built hostility in it. So if you put Pakistan aside, the logic will apply everywhere else,' the EAM said.