Operation Sindhu: Nepal thanks India for Iran evacuation

Hours after the Indian government announced that it will evacuate Nepal nationals from Iran, the Nepal ambassador in Delhi Dr. Shankar P Sharma has thanked India for the measure that is being undertaken. Speaking to WION, he said, "India has always extended invaluable support during emergencies, whether it involves evacuating Nepali citizens from abroad in times of crisis or providing assistance during natural disasters such as earthquakes in Nepal".

As the prospects of the West Asia situation remains grim, India has announced it will help in evacuation of Sri Lankan & Nepali nationals from Iran as part of its ongoing operation Sindhu. The announcement was made by the Indian mission in Iran, and in a statement said, "On request of the Governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka, the Indian Embassy’s evacuation efforts in Iran will also cover Citizens of Nepal and Sri Lanka".

The Indian embassy in Tehran announced that citizens of Nepal and Sri Lanka "may urgently reach out to the Embassy either on the Telegram channel or over the emergency contact numbers". Helpline numbers have also been issued: +989010144557; +989128109115; +989128109109. India under operation Sindhu has been evacuating its nationals from Iran, both via land route from Armenia and special flights from Mashhad to Delhi. Flights have been regularly reaching the Indian national capital with the evacuated Indian nationals.

This is not the first time India has evacuated nationals of the countries from the region during a crisis. During the 2022 Operation Ganga evacuation from Ukraine, India had evacuated foreign nationals from neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. During 2023 Operation Ajay, involving evacuation from Israel, India evacuated Nepali nationals. During 2020, evacuation from Wuhan, China during the outbreak of COVID, India evacuated Maldives nationals.

India has reached out to Nepal several times as part of its neighbourhood first policy. After 2015 massive quake, India launched operation Maitri to help the neighbouring country by deploying National disaster response Force teams. After the 2023 Jajarkot Earthquake, India had announced relief worth INR 10 cr. Later a $75 M financial package was announced for reconstruction efforts.