Operation Ajay: 286 more passengers, including 18 Nepal citizens, en route India from Tel Aviv
Oct 17, 2023
Tel Aviv [Israel], October 17 : As many as 286 more passengers, including 18 citizens from Nepal, are being brought to India from war-torn Israel under 'Operation Ajay', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.
Operation Ajay is an ongoing operation conducted by the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens from Israel during the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.
"286 more passengers are coming back to India. Also carrying 18 Nepalese citizens," posted Jaishankar on X.
The fourth flight from Israel under 'Operation Ajay' carrying 274 Indian passengers landed in the national capital on Sunday.
Union Minister of State General (Retd) VK Singh received the Indian passengers at the airport. He interacted with them and also gave tricolours to every Indian passenger.
MoS for Road Transport and Highways, VK Singh informed that more flights will be carried out to evacuate the Indian citizens amid the situation in Israel.
The Indian nationals applauded the operation and said that there was support from the Indian embassy and the evacuation process was nice and quick.
'Operation Ajay' was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday.
The Indian embassy in Israel is providing assistance to Indian companies and has set up a helpline for Indian citizens in need of assistance.
Earlier today, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said that if required, more flights will be operated on the basis of the upcoming situation, noting that five flights have already arrived in the last few days.
"As of new, 5 flights have come and if required we will operate more flights on the basis of the situation that emerges," Muraleedharan said.
"During the last, almost 4-5 days, we have flown aircraft from Israel to India," he added.
Following the Hamas attack on Israel, the Indian embassy issued an advisory and requested the Indian citizens living in Israel to be cautious and to register their names in the Indian embassy.
"Conflict erupted in Israel, the Indian Embassy had issued an advisory, requesting the Indian citizens there to be cautious and also to register their names in the Indian Embassy...," he emphasised.
Moreover, the minister stressed that the Indian embassy is considering the requests of Indian citizens in Israel based on the ground situation.
"The Indian Embassy is taking the call on who all have to travel to India based on the requests of the people and their ground situation there," he said.
The MEA had set up a 24-hour control room in view of the escalating conflict. The control room will help monitor the situation and provide information and assistance.
