The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) here on Saturday said that more than 70 Indian students, majority of them from J&K, who were stranded in Iran amid the ongoing war situation, are about to reach to India on a commercial flight and are scheduled to arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday morning via a connecting journey through Armenia and Dubai, following a coordinated evacuation effort.
In a statement, the JKSA national convener Nasir Khuehami said that the students are travelling on Flydubai Flight FZ8124, which departed from Zvartnots International Airport, carrying over 70 Indian students along with other pilgrims. The majority of the passengers on board are students from Kashmir who had been studying at different universities in Iran.
He said that the journey is being carried out through a connecting route.
The association said that these students had been stranded in Iran due to the ongoing war-like situation and deteriorating security conditions in the region and are now returning safely to India. It further said that most of the students travelling in this batch are studying at Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and other universities across Iran.
Before boarding the flight, the students travelled by buses from different cities in Iran and undertook reached Armenia, reaching Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan to board the evacuation flight. Earlier, the students were relocated to safer locations by the Indian Embassy in Tehran. Meanwhile, another group of stranded students studying in Kerman has also been moved to the relatively safer city of Qom as a precautionary measure.
The association said it is working closely with the Union ministry of external affairs, the Embassy of Iran in New Delhi, and Indian missions in Tehran and Yerevan to secure land-transit permits and airline seats for the stranded students.
Khuehami said that the matter was flagged with foreign secretary Vikram Misri last week, after which the required permissions for land transit and travel were granted.
