New Delhi: The Government of India brought back 110 students from Iran under ‘Operation Sindhu’ on Thursday, as the country continues to face a conflict with Israel. These students were flown back to India after being safely evacuated from the war-hit region. Many of them shared how scary the situation was. “We saw missiles in the sky and heard bombs in our neighbourhood. We were petrified,” MBBS student Mir Khalif told PTI after landing at Delhi airport.
He called the experience in Iran a nightmare and thanked the Indian government for rescuing them. “We saw missiles and heard bombings. It was a war zone. Our building shook during the attacks. I hope no student has to face what we did,” he said. He also mentioned that some students are still in Iran. “There are students still stuck in Iran. They are being relocated to safer places. We hope they will also be airlifted to India soon,” he added.
Most of the evacuated students were from Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Embassy had moved them from Tehran to Armenia earlier this week as explosions and airstrikes hit Iranian cities. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh welcomed the students at the Delhi airport. He posted on X, “Warmly welcomed home the first group of 110 Indian nationals evacuated from Iran as part of Operation Sindhu, reaffirming India’s steadfast commitment to the safety and well-being of its citizens abroad.”
Another student named Varta from Kashmir said, “We were the first ones to be evacuated from Iran. The situation was quite critical. We were terrified. We thank the Indian government and the Indian Embassy, which worked very fast and swiftly to bring us here.” She added, “Our neighbourhood was attacked. When the Indian government came to our doorstep, it felt like home.”
Ali Akbar, a student from Delhi, shared, “We saw a missile and a drone fall from the sky while travelling in a bus. Tehran is in ruins. The images on the news are real, the situation is very bad.”
Minister Singh also said more evacuation flights are planned and thanked Turkmenistan and Armenia for helping. “We have planes ready. We will be sending another plane today,” he said.
Haider Ali, father of MBBS student Maaz Haider, said, “We are happy and grateful, but our hearts are still heavy knowing that many students are still stuck in Tehran. We urge the government to bring them back too.” Parvez Alam from Bulandshahr, whose son studied in Urmia, said the students were well looked after. “We thank the government for this,” he added.
