Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Friday that the Center has extracted citizens from conflict zones over the past nine years. He added that the government no longer seeks the assistance of other nations in such missions but instead offers it. This came hours after a chartered flight carrying Indian citizens caught up in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas arrived in the capital. As part of “Operation Ajay,” 212 Indian nationals from Israel arrived at the Delhi airport on Friday morning. In the midst of the ongoing offensive in Gaza and in response to the numerous terrorist attacks carried out by the terror group Hamas, the operation to repatriate Indians from Israel was started.
On Friday about the ongoing operation to extract Indians willing to return amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the Union minister said, “Whether it was during the Covid-19 pandemic or the Ukraine-Russia conflict or the ‘Arab Spring’ (civilian uprising in Egypt), India has successfully one such mission after another to bring back every single citizen from conflict zones. We have carried out many such missions over the last 9 and a half years. Not just our citizens, we have also rescued foreign nationals from conflict zones as well. Today, India does not ask for help, rather it offers assistance to others.”
Earlier, on Friday, the first batch of Indians from Israel arrived to chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar personally greeted the returning citizens while keeping his hands folded. Additionally, he spoke with students arriving from Israel. The minister assured travelers of the Center’s “unwavering commitment” to every Indian traveling abroad in safety. He continued, “Prime Minister Modi is committed to protecting all Indians living abroad.”