New Delhi: The first charter flight, under Operation Ajay, carrying 212 Indians stranded in Israel amid the ongoing war arrived in Delhi on Friday morning.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar received the returnees at the airport. “Our government will never leave any Indian behind. Our government, our Prime Minister is determined to protect them, bring them back home safely,” Chandrasekhar told news agency ANI.
Operation Ajay has been launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to bring back around 18,000 Indians in Israel. The first flight with 212 passengers, including an infant, took off at 10:14 pm (local time) on Thursday from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. There was a festive mood among the returnees who chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Matram’ on the flight, reported PTI.
According to reports, the passengers were chosen on a ‘first come first serve’ basis after a drive was launched by the Indian embassy for all Indians to register at the mission’s database. The government is bearing the cost of their return.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had earlier shared pictures of the first repatriation of the stranded citizens on X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote: “Operation Ajay gets underway. 212 citizens onboard the flight are en route New Delhi.”
#OperationAjay gets underway.
212 citizens onboard the flight are enroute New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/fGSAYiXbBA
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 12, 2023
The arrangement was made since Air India had immediately suspended its flights to Israel on the day fighting began on October 7.
A second flight will leave Israel on Friday and the Embassy has alerted Indian citizens, the reports added.
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