Operation Sindhu: India Prepares to Evacuate Citizens Stranded in Gulf Amid Iran Conflict
The central government announced its preparedness to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Gulf countries amid the escalating Iran-Israel-US conflict, with Operation Sindhu formally launched to extract citizens from Iran and Israel.
A total of 4,415 Indian nationals were evacuated — 3,597 from Iran and 818 from Israel — using 19 special evacuation flights, including three Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift aircraft.
The Indian Embassy in Tehran facilitated the evacuation of 110 Indian students from northern Iran overland through Armenia; Indian missions in Tehran and Yerevan coordinated the cross-border transit.
Beyond Indian citizens, the operation extended to 14 Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders, 9 Nepali nationals, 4 Sri Lankan nationals, and one Iranian spouse of an Indian national — reflecting India's broader humanitarian role.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged Indian nationals in conflict-affected areas to register with Indian missions and follow advisories; helplines were established in multiple languages for Gulf-based workers.
India's broader concern extends to approximately 10 million Indians working across the six GCC countries, whose safety and livelihoods are at risk from conflict spillovers even if they are not in direct combat zones.
India's Evacuation Operations: An Established Competency
India has developed a systematic evacuation capability over several decades, shaped by recurring crises in the Gulf and other conflict-prone regions. Evacuation operations are coordinated between the MEA, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, and Air India (now a Tata Group airline).
Operation Sindhu reflects India's institutional maturity in citizen evacuation — demonstrating that the government can rapidly mobilise military and diplomatic assets to protect nationals in conflict zones.
India's Gulf Diaspora: Scale, Vulnerability, and Economic Significance
The Indian diaspora in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — comprising Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman — is the largest component of India's overseas worker population and a critical pillar of the Indian economy.
The government's evacuation preparedness reflects not just humanitarian duty but economic risk management — a disruption to the livelihoods of 10 million Gulf-based Indians would cascade into remittance shortfalls affecting millions of dependent families in India.
Ministry of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Welfare Architecture
The MEA manages India's consular and diaspora affairs through a structured institutional framework involving embassies, the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), and bilateral Labour Agreements.
Key Details
- The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF): Corpus funded partly by visa fees charged to outbound workers; used for emergency repatriation, medical assistance, and legal support for distressed Indians abroad.
- The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (now merged with MEA) reflect institutional recognition of the diaspora's importance.
- Bilateral Labour Agreements: India has signed Labour and Manpower Cooperation agreements with all major GCC states, establishing rights and grievance mechanisms for workers.
- The eMigrate system: Online platform for monitoring and regulating emigration of "Emigration Check Required" (ECR) passport holders, predominantly blue-collar workers going to Gulf states.
- The Scholarship, Education and Research for Indians Abroad (SERI) scheme and other programmes reflect the MEA's welfare mandate beyond crisis evacuation.
The government's capacity to rapidly respond to the Iran crisis draws on this entire diplomatic-welfare infrastructure — the same systems that register workers before departure become the tracking and rescue mechanisms when crises strike.
- Operation Sindhu: 4,415 Indians evacuated — 3,597 from Iran, 818 from Israel
- 19 special evacuation flights, including 3 IAF C-17 Globemaster III aircraft
- 110 students evacuated overland via Armenia from northern Iran
- Beneficiaries beyond Indian citizens: 14 OCI holders, 9 Nepali nationals, 4 Sri Lankan nationals
- Indian diaspora in GCC: over 10 million workers
- GCC remittances to India: ~$51 billion/year (~38% of India's total remittances)
- Precedents: Operation Vande Bharat (2020, COVID), Operation Ganga (2022, Ukraine), Operation Ajay (2023, Israel)
- Legal framework: Emigration Act 1983; Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) for crisis support