Iran on Friday agreed to open its otherwise-closed airspace exclusively for flights evacuating Indian students from the country, as Tehran's conflict with Israel continues for the eighth consecutive day.
At least 1,000 Indian students stranded in Iran are expected to be flown to Delhi over the next few days as a part of the Indian government's emergency evacuation programme, titled 'Operation Sindhu'.
The first flight from Mashad is scheduled to land in Delhi at 11:00 PM tonight, while the second (from Ashgabat) will land at 3:00AM on Saturday. The third flight is expected to arrive later that day.
"India accords highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said in a recent statement.
In that regard, the government on Thursday had also decided to extend Operation Sindhu to Indians living in Israel who wished to be evacuated, as the conflict between the two nations shows no signs of stopping, and a wounded Iran continues to retaliate against Israeli offensives.
The MEA had said that the travel of Indians from Israel would be arranged through land borders and thereafter by air to India.
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On June 17, as many as 110 Indian students—most of whom were from Kashmir—were evacuated from northern Iran via Armenia. The students were taken by road from Iran to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, with the support of Iranian and Armenian diplomatic missions. They left Yerevan on a special flight at 2.55 PM on June 18, and reached New Delhi on Thursday.
The conflict is further susceptible to US involvement, a possibility that Israel continues to push for. US President Donald Trump on Friday offered a two-week window for peace negotiations.
This is seen as a final push for diplomacy—before bombing Iran: an escalatory action that Russia, Türkiye and Iran have cautioned against, with Russia even offering to mediate the conflict.
