Evacuation of Indians from abroad
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YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2003- 2026/ an overview
March 2, 2026: The Indian Express
As war comes to West Asia again, a look at how India has evacuated Indians abroad in times of crisis
Written by: Vikas Pathak, Jatin Anand
Mar 2, 2026 09:01 PM IST
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, as many as 15,49,341 of the 16,06,964 Indian workers holding Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports proceeding for employment overseas to any of the 18 notified ECR category countries from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2025 are in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
According to government data, the total number of Indians provided ECs during this period over the last five years for various Gulf countries includes 40,407 for Bahrain, 8,275 for Iran, 201,959 for Kuwait, 116,840 for Oman, 153,501 for Qatar, 695,269 for Saudi Arabia and 341,365 for the UAE.
Is an evacuation mission planned?
As of now, there are no evacuation plans by the Ministry of External Affairs. Also, because of the closure of airspace in Dubai and Abu Dhabi since the last two days, any evacuation attempt is presently not feasible. New Delhi is likely to wait and watch for the next two-three days – which is a key to understand how the situation unfolds – before any repatriation efforts can be planned or executed.
Airports in UAE (except Abu Dhabi which saw limited passenger flights on Monday; one towards London), Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait are shut because of airspace closures. However, since the Omani airspace is right now open, some people from Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi who have an Indian passport are getting out via Muscat, which is running flights to India. For Indian nationals with a valid US/UK visa, Oman visa is on arrival. Othwerwise you have to apply for e-visa online. They have to reach Hatta border (UAE-Oman border) by road (approx 200km), and after immigration formalities, which take about two hours, they can reach Muscat airport by road in another four hours.
What are some of the recent evacuation missions?
The Government of India has successfully evacuated more than 3.2 crore citizens settled across the world during various global crises ranging from the COVID pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine war in as many operations over the last five years.
According to submissions made by the Government to various questions regarding the evacuation of Indian citizens from foreign conflict zones raised in Parliament over the last half-a-decade, the most successful operation in this regard over the last five years was the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ launched in response to requests from families of Indian nationals stranded abroad during COVID.
How are evacuation missions aimed at rescuing Indians from conflict zones planned?
According to the MEA, in case of an outbreak of conflict or any other exigencies, the evacuation of Indian citizens is planned on a case-to-case basis, based on a number of factors, like number and location of Indian nationals within the country, security situation on ground and availability of evacuation/exit routes within the country and those with neighbouring countries. “Appropriate advisories are issued by the Indian missions in such situations so that the Indian citizens can move out of the conflict areas in time” the MEA adds.
2003-2011
What about similar missions by previous governments?
Before these, too, there were some memorable rescue missions. In 2011, when the Libyan Civil War broke out, India swung into action to evacuate 15,000 Indians from the country by air, land and sea. The operation was named Operation Safe Homecoming.
In 2006, then Minister of Defence Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha, “At the outbreak of recent hostilities between Israel and Lebanon, about 12000 Indians were residing in Lebanon. The Indian Navy evacuated 2280 persons, who desired to leave, from Beirut from 20 to 29 July, 2006…. One Indian national was killed.”
In 2003, when the US attacked Iraq, 5705 Indians were evacuated by Air India and Indian Airlines flights between March 18 and 31 on the payment of normal fares, MoS Civil Aviation Sripad Naik informed the Lok Sabha.
2021-2023
What are some other similar missions?
As many as 565 people including 438 Indians were evacuated from Afghanistan by the Government of India under the “Operation Devi Shakti” in 2021 based on requests to the Special Afghanistan Cell of the Ministry of External Affairs. This was done in the context of the Taliban takeover.
As part of ‘Operation Ganga, which was launched in response to the Ukraine-Russia war, 18,282 Indian nationals, mainly students, were brought back to India from Ukraine at the Government of India’s cost by 90 flights, of which 76 were commercial flights and 14 IAF flights in February and March 2022.
In ‘Operation Kaveri’, following a crisis in Sudan on April 15, 2023, as many as 4,097 people, including 136 foreigners, were brought back to India from Sudan with the help of 18 IAF sorties, 5 trips of Indian Navy ships and 20 commercial flights at Government of India’s cost. Of those evacuated, 108 Indian nationals moved through Sudan’s land borders with Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Following hostilities in the region after an attack by militant group Hamas in Israel in October, 2023, ‘Operation Ajay’ was launched and saw the evacuation of 1343 people, including 1309 Indian nationals, 14 OCI card holders and 20 Nepalese, to India from Israel in 6 special flights under Operation Ajay at Government of India’s cost.
Vande Bharat
What was the Vande Bharat Mission?
the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ launched in response to requests from families of Indian nationals stranded abroad during COVID
According to the government, the Vande Bharat Mission, which saw the Government of India facilitate travel for 3.20 crore people – disembarkation of 1.60 crore and embarkation of 1.60 crore – including Air Bubble arrangements till March 2022, was its most successful evacuation mission in this regard. A total of Rs. 22.54 crore was spent — Rs. 15.59 crore for arranging special chartered flights and Rs. 6.95 crore on air passage of individual Indian nationals on need basis – from the Indian Community and Welfare Fund (ICWF) through Indian Missions/Posts abroad during Vande Bharat Mission. Similar evacuation operations were also carried out in response to emerging geopolitical contingencies – especially those based on armed conflict – from Afghanistan, Sudan, the vicinity of Ukraine-Russia as well as West Asia.
Operation Sindhu
The most recent iteration of such a mission recently happened to be in Iran – dubbed ‘Operation Sindhu’, it was successfully carried out in June 2025 to evacuate Indian nationals from conflict zones in West Asia. It led to the evacuation of 4415 Indian nationals – 3597 from Iran and 818 from Israel — using 19 special evacuation flights (including 3 IAF C-17 aircraft) as routine flight services were not available on account of ongoing hostilities. “India was one of the first countries to undertake such rapid evacuation operations despite the complexities involved,” EAM Jaishankar said in response to Congress Lok Sabha MP Suresh Kumar Shetkar on February 6.
With inputs from Divya A
1990-2022
March 2, 2022: The Times of India
Here is a list of the operations undertaken over the years.
2022, Operation Ganga: Ukraine
Operation Ganga in Ukraine is the latest on a long list of military and civilian evacuations organised by the Indian government over four decades. From wars in Libya and Sierra Leone, and a terror attack in Europe, to natural disasters in Maldives and Nepal, and the Covid pandemic all over the world – Indian forces have moved hundreds of thousands of lives to safety.
2020-21, Vande Bharat Mission: From several countries
In multiple phases of the operation through the deadly first and second waves of the Covid epidemic that forced nations to lock down their borders, about 60 lakh Indians were brought back by the end of April 2021, according to government reports. The Union government revealed that 18,79,968 Indians flew back on Air India and Air India Express flights, and another 36,92,216 took chartered flights. These were paid for by the evacuees themselves. Indian Navy ships helped 3,987 Indians return home and 5,02,151 were repatriated via land border crossings from neighbouring countries.
2020-21, Operations Samudra Setu I & II: Maldives, Sri Lanka, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar
The Navy deployed the ships Jalashwa, Airavat, Shardul and Magar, an Ilyushin and a Dornier aircraft, and an amphibian craft for the first operation that started during the first wave of the pandemic in May 2020. In all, 3,992 Indian citizens were brought back from Male, Colombo and Bandar Abbas to Kochi, Tuticorin and Porbandar over 55 days of criss-crossing the seas. A separate Mission Sagar under the operation delivered 580 tonnes of food and medicine to Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles and Comoros Islands. Other Mission Sagar routes delivered essentials and medical supplies to Cambodia and Vietnam.
At the height of the second wave in April 2021, with a severe shortage of medical oxygen and equipment at home, the Navy deployed seven ships under the second phase of the operation to bring back oxygen-filled cryogenic containers from various countries in the Persian Gulf.
2021, Operation Devi Shakti: Afghanistan and Tajikistan
When the US and other foreign forces hastily withdrew after two decades in Afghanistan, the belligerent Taliban forces converged on capital Kabul with unexpected speed. Lakhs of Indians, many of whom had gone over to work on government and private contracts, were stuck amid a quickly-worsening security atmosphere.
Under Operation Devi Shakti, India evacuated more than 800 people including some Nepalese nationals from Kabul and Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan where some of them had fled when the Taliban took over, over at least three flights. The Indian Air Force’s large Globemaster III and Super Hercules cargo planes were used during the operation.
2020: Wuhan evacuation
In a goodwill gesture, India sent medical equipment in early 2020 to Wuhan in China, the epicentre from where the pandemic spread around the world. On the same three flights in late January and February, as China was shutting its borders, the Air Force brought back 723 Indians and 43 foreign nationals from there, including the Indian embassy staff who were coordinating the evacuations. The foreign nationals were from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives, South Africa, Madagascar and the US.
2015, Operation Raahat: Yemen
The civil war between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels worsened in early 2015 when Saudi Arabia and Iran ratcheted up their proxy war with arms and air support. This trapped more than 5,000 Indians who had not heeded repeated calls from the Indian foreign ministry to leave the country.
By March, a no-fly zone had been enforced over parts of Yemen. The Navy set up a base in Djibouti and sent an anti-piracy patrol vessel from Lakshwadweep, and a destroyer and a frigate from Mumbai more than 2,500 km across the Arabian Sea to the base.
Meanwhile, the Air Force deployed its Globemaster cargo planes and an Air India Airbus in coordination with the local authorities to avoid tripping the no-fly cordon. More sea-crossing ferries were sent from Lakshadweep to increase the capacity.
Over the next few weeks, India rescued more than 5,500 people including Indians and more than 1,200 foreign nationals. The Navy staged nine separate missions from Aden and Hudaida to Mumbai and Kochi.
In March 2016, Belgium was hit by terrorist strikes at the airport in Zaventem and the Maalbeek Metro station in central Brussels. Thirty-two civilians and three terrorists were killed and more than 300 people were injured. Jet Airways coordinated with the government to first move about 800 people from Brussels in 15 buses to Amsterdam by road. And then flew out 242 of them to Delhi and Toronto.
Jet Airways evacuated 242 Indians, including 28 crew members who had been stranded in Brussels.
2016, Operation Sankat Mochan: South Sudan
Conflicts kept plaguing South Sudan after it gained independence in 2011. When it turned into a full-fledged civil war targeting the capital Juba in 2016, where most of the 600-odd Indians were based, the Air Force sent cargo planes in July to bring back 153 of them to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The Indian Army, which had been present in the country for years a decade earlier on UN peacekeeping duty, provided assistance. The government told parliament that the rest had decided to stay back or make their own way out.
2015: Nepal
When a devastating earthquake hit Nepal during its busy trekking season in April 2015, the Indian Army deployed its medical and engineering units, along with cargo planes and helicopters to Kathmandu, Pokhara and Gorkha. It set up three field hospitals, evacuated hundreds and delivered food, warm covers and tents to the northern neighbour.
A joint Army-Air Force operation brought more than 5,000 Indians back in military and civilian planes. About 170 foreign nationals from the US, UK, Russia and Germany were also put on their way home after being evacuated.
2011: Libya
In 2011, when a civil war broke out in Libya, the Indian government faced a torrent of anxious questions in Parliament on what it was doing to bring back the thousands of Indians there, including many employed in the oil and steel industries there.
Operation Homecoming involved nine flights of military and Air India planes to bring back 15,400 Indian nationals from Tripoli and Sehba in Libya, Alexandria in Egypt, and a few Bangladeshis from Malta. The Navy sent a ship to Tripoli to complete the last bit of evacuations.
The air-sea operation, conducted by the Indian Navy and Air India, also used charter ships and private airlines. Here, a navy ship brings back Indians
2006: Lebanon
When Israeli forces entered Lebanon in 2006, 11 Indian battleships were coming back from the Mediterranean Sea after overseas exercises. When they were on their way back from Athens, they were asked by their command centre to turn around. It took a while because they were already in the narrow Suez Canal, so they exited on the eastern side and turned westwards again towards Beirut for a ‘sealift’.
They first monitored Israeli military communication as they sailed towards Beirut and then coordinated with the Israeli forces to move the people from Lebanon to Cyprus, from where they were flown back. In all, 2,280 people, including Lebanese, Nepalese and Sri Lankan nationals, were evacuated in July and August.
2004: Sumatra, Indonesia
When an earthquake happened off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia December 2004, it triggered the most destructive tsunami in recent history. Massive waves crashed ashore in all countries along the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.
An air bridge was established between Andaman, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and coordination hubs in Delhi, Chennai, Tambaram and Car Nicobar. More than 600 sorties were flown the next few days to bring back people to the mainland and provide relief materials to the islands.
Towards the end of the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone, Indians were the largest contingent among the UN Peacekeeping forces in the west African nation. One of the largest local militia groups had held 222 peacekeepers hostage for 75 days. An Air Force contingent led by Group Captain BS Siwach led the mission to fly 98 sorties to extricate the hostages. Siwach received the Ati Vishisht Sewa Medal for the operation.
2000: Kenya
Earlier, in May 2000, two Indian Air Force helicopter pilots evacuated Kenyan battle casualties and 11 UN military observers from a besieged garrison in Makeni, 150 km north of the capital Free Town. They came under heavy fire, during which one of the helicopters caught fire, but they managed to complete the mission. Their daring earned praise from the UN headquarters.
1990-91, Airlift: Kuwait
In 1990, when 1,00,000 Iraqi soldiers and 700 tanks marched into Kuwait, more than a lakh of those stranded in the country were Indians. IK Gujral, the then foreign minister, went to Baghdad to negotiate the safe passage of Indians with Saddam Hussein. India first tried Air Force planes, but their clearances needed lengthy paperwork. So Air India planes were commandeered, of which there were fewer at the time.
India's evacuation of civilians from Kuwait during the 1990-91 Gulf War is the single largest evacuation in modern times
On August 13, 12 days after the tanks crossed the border, India started evacuating its citizens on a caravan of buses. They first crossed over to Basra in southern Iraq, and from there to Baghdad, and eventually across the Jordanian border to Amman. From there, Air India flew 488 sorties over 59 days into October and carried back 111,711 passengers in all. It was the single largest evacuation of modern times. Inputs from media reports, PIB, Ministry of External Affairs, and the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force
