Operation Ajay: 5th flight brings back 286 citizens, including 18 Nepalese

Under ‘Operation Ajay,’ the fifth flight carrying 286 Indian citizens including 18 Nepalese arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday night.

5th flight brings back 287 Indians, including 18 Nepalese

Upon their arrival, they were received by the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, L Murugan.

#WATCH | Fifth flight carrying 286 Indian nationals and 18 Nepalese citizens from Israel, arrived in Delhi; received by Union Minister L Murugan#OperationAjay pic.twitter.com/gIo6yVTDVX

— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2023

“Wherever Indians are stranded, our priority is to bring them back. We have successfully conducted Operation Ganga and Operation Kaveri now under Operation Ajay we are bringing people back from Israel. This is the fifth flight, and we have already brought 1180 people back home. We are the first country to start the evacuation, and we are also bringing people belonging to our neighbour (Nepal) countries…,” the union minister said.

Evacuees express gratitude

Expressing gratitude to PM Modi-led central government, an Indian citizen who returned from Israel, Vishal told ANI, “I am coming from Haifa, Israel. We had to follow the safety protocols given by the university. The Indian government has helped us a lot, we are thankful to the embassy…”

Another Indian, Ramesh said, “We have just returned from Israel. The facilities provided by the Indian Embassy were very good. We got a lot of help from the Indian Embassy in Israel…”

Along with Indian nationals, there were some Nepal citizens as well, who were also evacuated by India under ‘Operation Ajay’.

Ambika, a Nepali citizen who returned from Israel told ANI, “The situation in Israel is dangerous. We were scared, there were explosions. I want to thank the Indian Govt for bringing us back. Several Nepali citizens still stranded in Israel…”

Nepal envoy to India’s stance on Operation Ajay

Following the evacuation – ‘Operation Ajay,’ the Ambassador of Nepal to India, Shankar P Sharma said, “We would like to thank the Indian Govt for bringing Nepali citizens back from Tel Aviv to Delhi. They have arrived here safely. Flights are also being sent from Nepal to evacuate Nepali citizens. There are around 4,500 Nepalis in Israel, out of which 400 have been evacuated. Nepal Govt is working to bring them back…”

#WATCH | Shankar P Sharma, Ambassador of Nepal to India, says "We would like to thank the Indian Govt for bringing Nepali citizens back from Tel Aviv to Delhi. They have arrived here safely. Flights are also being sent from Nepal to evacuate Nepali citizens. There are around… pic.twitter.com/AhdaraJr5B

— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2023

Operation Ajay is an ongoing operation conducted by the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens from Israel during the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict.

The fourth flight from Israel under ‘Operation Ajay’ carrying 274 Indian passengers landed in the national capital on Sunday.