India Secures Exclusive Access To Iranian Airspace To Evacuate Over 1,000 Students Amid Escalating Israel-Iran Conflict: Report

In a significant development amid escalating regional tensions, Iran has made an exception to its airspace restrictions, permitting only Indian evacuation flights to operate, reported NDTV.

As part of India's emergency evacuation programme, Operation Sindhu, approximately 1,000 Indian students stranded in conflict-hit Iranian cities are expected to land in Delhi in the next two days.

The first evacuation flight is expected to arrive at 11.00 IST tonight (20 June), followed by two more on Saturday — one scheduled for the morning and the other for the evening.

The Iranian airspace remain shut to most international carriers amid continuing missile and drone exchanges between Iranian and Israeli forces.

However, Iran has reportedly granted India an exclusive corridor to carry out the evacuation of its students.

India launched Operation Sindhu on Wednesday (18 June) to evacuate its nationals from Iran as the conflict with Israel intensified.

Iranian embassy officials in Delhi reportedly said the Iranian foreign ministry was in close touch with the Indian mission in Tehran after some students were injured.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that India accords "highest priority to the safety and security of Indian nationals abroad".

Over 4,000 Indian nationals, half of whom are students, currently reside in Iran.

Earlier this week, 110 Indian students from northern Iran were evacuated by road to Yerevan, Armenia, and then flew to New Delhi.

From Yerevan, they boarded a special flight on 18 June, landing in New Delhi in the early hours of 19 June.