MEA: 4.26L return from West Asia

New Delhi: Amid the West Asia conflict, a total of 1,043 Indian nationals, including 717 students, have crossed out of Iran with the assistance of the mission in Tehran, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.

At an inter-ministerial briefing here on the West Asia situation, Aseem R Mahajan, Additional Secretary (Gulf), MEA, also said the overall flight situation continues to improve, and that around 4.26 lakh passengers have returned from the region to India since February 28.

“During this period, a total of 2,149 flights, including scheduled and non-scheduled flights of Indian as well as foreign carriers, have operated from the region to India,” he said.

The MEA said it continues to closely monitor the evolving situation in the Gulf and the West Asia region.

“We are according the highest priority to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of the large Indian community in the region,” Mahajan said.

The ministry’s dedicated Control Room remains operational to address queries and support Indian nationals and their families.

“We continue to assist travel of Indian nationals in Iran through Armenia and Azerbaijan, to India. A total of 1,043 Indian nationals, including 717 students and 326 other Indian citizens, have crossed out of Iran with our mission’s assistance.

“We are also facilitating travel of Indian nationals from Israel via Jordan to India. In view of the flight restrictions from Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq, we continue to facilitate travel of Indian nationals via Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Mahajan said the mortal remains of an Indian national who had passed away on March 18 in an attack in Riyadh, have arrived in India earlier on Wednesday.

“We have been in regular touch with the family and express our deepest condolences to them at this difficult time,” he said. The Indian missions in Oman, Iraq, and the UAE are in regular touch with the concerned authorities regarding a missing Indian national and for early repatriation of the mortal remains of the other deceased Indian national, the MEA official said.

On Tuesday evening, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the Iranian envoy in India and talked about the ongoing conflict in West Asia.