New Delhi, April 4 — External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday thanked Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan for facilitating the evacuation of Indian fishermen from Iran amid the West Asia conflict.
“Thank FM Ararat Mirzoyan and the Government of Armenia for facilitating the evacuation of Indian fishermen today from Iran, through Armenia to India,” Jaishankar wrote on X.
Armenia has been assisting the evacuation of Indian nationals from Iran. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said more than 1,200 Indian nationals have been safely evacuated from Iran, of whom 996 moved to Armenia.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, addressing an inter-ministerial briefing, said the evacuation is being carried out through Armenia and Azerbaijan with the Centre closely coordinating efforts on the ground. “Some 1,200 Indian nationals have been evacuated, of which 845 are students,” he said, adding that 996 moved to Armenia and 204 to Azerbaijan, from where they are being assisted by the MEA.
The Ministry is working with Indian missions and local authorities in both Armenia and Azerbaijan to ensure the safe return of citizens and has arrangements to assist evacuees in transit before they are brought back to India.
Since February 28, over 6 lakh passengers have returned to India amid the developing security situation in West Asia. Aseem R Mahajan, Additional Secretary (Gulf) at the MEA, said around 624,000 passengers have traveled from the region to India. Airlines continue to operate limited non-scheduled flights based on operational and safety considerations, and around 90 flights were expected to operate from the UAE to various destinations in India on Saturday.
The West Asia crisis began on February 28 with US-Israel strikes on Iran and subsequent Iranian retaliation, which affected airspace in the Gulf region. (ANI)
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