India’s first evacuation flight under Operation Sindhu, ferrying its nationals from conflict-hit Iran, is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday (June 19, 2025). This marks the beginning of what could become one of the most logistically complex evacuation efforts in recent memory.
The IndiGo-operated commercial flight, carrying 110 passengers—including 90 students from Jammu and Kashmir—departed from Yerevan, Armenia, and is expected to land in New Delhi around 2 am.
While the evacuation from Iran is still in its early phase, the challenges ahead are daunting. India had earlier refrained from officially naming the operation, unlike the highly coordinated “Operation Ganga” during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. This decision underscores the far more difficult terrain, both literal and diplomatic, in the current crisis.
Over 10,000 Indians in Iran
Around 10,000 Indian nationals remain in Iran — including 1,500 to 2,000 students and approximately 6,000 professionals, workers and maritime personnel. But geography, airspace restrictions and strained regional ties make
Iran a significantly tougher evacuation theatre than Ukraine ever was.
In contrast to the Ukraine conflict, where thousands of Indians were successfully moved to neighbouring European countries with open western borders, Iran presents a deeply restricted environment. Pakistani airspace remains closed to Indian aircraft. And land routes through Pakistan and Afghanistan are diplomatically and logistically unviable.
Armenia Emerges Key Evacuation Route
With Iranian airspace largely closed due to the ongoing conflict, air evacuation is not possible. Land transit through Armenia, which shares a northern border with Iran, has emerged as the most feasible and geopolitically stable option.
This is in part due to India’s strengthening ties with Armenia. Pakistan is ruled out due to closed airspace; Afghanistan lacks the required security infrastructure. And Azerbaijan’s open support to Pakistan makes it an undesirable route. Turkmenistan remains a secondary possibility for future evacuations.
Conditions Inside Iran
Efforts to move Indians out of Tehran have already begun. The Indian embassy has advised citizens to leave the capital and relocate to safer areas, using personal or community resources where available.
Roughly 600 to 700 Indians—including many students—have already relocated to Qom, a central city considered safer due to its religious significance and relative distance from strategic targets.
Other cities such as Isfahan, Tabriz, Arak and Kermanshah are reportedly inaccessible for evacuation due to proximity to military or nuclear installations.
Unlike Ukraine, where road and rail networks remained partially functional during conflict, internal movement in Iran is more precarious. Road and rail infrastructure is unreliable. And aerial threats span wide geographic areas, making coordinated movement riskier.
Stakes Are High
The Indian government’s decision not to give this mission a formal name reflects the volatile environment in which the evacuation is unfolding. During “Operation Ganga,” 90 flights — including 14 Indian Air Force sorties — evacuated over 22,000 citizens from Ukraine via five bordering nations. That effort was enabled by cooperative air corridors and ground transit options that are simply unavailable in the case of Iran.
While the first flight is a vital start, officials warn that a large-scale evacuation from Iran may be a slow and staggered process. Every future flight will depend on the security landscape, ground conditions and India’s ongoing diplomatic negotiations in the region.
