New Delhi: A flight carrying the first batch of Indians, who were stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war, landed in New Delhi under ‘Operation Ajay’ on Friday morning.
As many as 212 Indian nationals from Israel have arrived at the Delhi airport. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar greeted the returning Indians at the airport.
“Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them and bring them back home safely. We are grateful to EAM Dr S Jaishankar, the team at the External Affairs Ministry, the crew of Air India flight for making this possible, for bringing our children back home safely and soundly,” Chandrasekhar said.
An Indian national, who returned from Israel, told ANI: “This is the first time that we are facing this situation over there. We are very thankful to the Indian government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing us back. We are hoping for peace as soon as possible, so that we can go back to work as earliest as possible…”
The first batch of Indian passengers boarded the flight from Tel Aviv to India under Operation Ajay on Thursday.
On the occasion, Indian Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla, said that the Indian Embassy in Israel under “Operation Ajay” will help the Indians who want to return home.
“As I said yesterday, the Embassy of India in Tel Aviv has been working continuously to ensure the safety and welfare of all our Indian citizens in Israel.”
Earlier on Thursday, Singla said: “It’s going to have almost 200 Indian citizens — students, caregivers, and business professionals, and we are trying to ensure that we have a similar flight in the coming days. We will have, one flight tomorrow… I would like to reach out to my fellow Indian citizens here and urge them to remain calm and stay safe by following the local safety advisories and I want to tell them that we’re always there with them. We are standing with them.”
In an exclusive interview with ANI, an Indian citizen returning back to India in the first flight from Tel Aviv thanked the Indian government for assisting in the tough times and asserted that they have got a lot of help through “Operation Ajay”.
The MEA spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, said earlier that there were no Indian casualties so far. “Around 18,000 Indians are in Israel. There is conflict going on and it is a matter of concern. Indians advised to follow advisories issued by our mission,” Bagchi said.
“Operation Ajay” was launched by Prime Minister Modi to bring back the stranded Indians in Israel. Registration of Indians began on Thursday.
The MEA has 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.