The Modi government, which came to power in May 2014, has time and again reiterated its commitment to the safety and security of each Indian national, irrespective of their presence within the country or in a foreign nation. In its last 11 years of seva, the government launched 12 rescue missions to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from conflict-torn countries.
These nations include Iraq, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Nepal, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Libya and others. The Ministry of External Affairs, under the Modi government, left no stone unturned to create a safe passage for Indian nationals and airlift them to India in the midst of ongoing war and conflicts.
Through its diplomatic missions abroad, the lives of countless Indian nationals were saved between 2014 and 2025. Here is the timeline and details of the 12 Operations undertaken by the Modi government in the last 11 years
Indians evacuated amid Israel-Iran war
On Wednesday (18th June), the Modi government launched ‘Operation Sindhu’ to evacuate Indian nationals, stranded in Iran, amid an increase in hostilities with Israel.
The government first facilitated the travel of 110 Indian students from Iran to Armenia through its diplomatic missions, and then arranged a special flight to bring them back to New Delhi.
Due to the diplomacy of the Modi government, Iran made an exception and opened its airspace for the rescue of Indian nationals. It arranged a special flight and evacuated 290 more Indian students on Friday (20th June).
#OperationSindhu continues.
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) June 21, 2025
A special evacuation flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan landed in New Delhi at 0300 hrs on 21st June, bringing Indians from Iran home.
With this, so far 517 Indian nationals from Iran have returned home under Operation Sindhu. pic.twitter.com/xYfpoxwJtw
An additional 117 Indians were brought to New Delhi through another special evacuation flight from Turkmenistan. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, about 517 Indian nationals have been evacuated from Iran.
An estimated 1000 Indian nationals will be airlifted under ‘Operation Sindhu.’
Modi govt evacuates Indian nationals from Syria in 2024
On 10th December last year, the Modi government rescued 75 Indian nationals, who were stuck in Syria, following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad by rebels.
Amid the civil war, the Indian government did not shy away from its responsibility and coordinated with its embassies in Beirut and Damascus to facilitate the evacuation.
In a statement, the MEA pointed out, “The Government of India today evacuated 75 Indian nationals from Syria, following recent developments in that country.”
“The evacuees included 44 ‘zaireen’ from Jammu and Kashmir who were stranded at Saida Zainab. All Indian nationals have safely crossed over to Lebanon and will return by available commercial flights to India.”
Operation Kaveri in 2023
Between 24th April and 5th May 2023, the government of India launched Operation Kaveri to evacuate Indians from war-hit Sudan. Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan went to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to manage the evacuation.
Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar regularly updated about the evacuation process on social media. Apart from Indian Nationals, foreign nationals were also evacuated by India.
The Indians were evacuated from Port Sudan to Jeddah after the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to extend their ceasefire amid ongoing violence in the capital Khartoum and the western Darfur region.
An estimated 3,862 people were evacuated in less than 2 weeks.
Operation Ganga in 2022
Operation Ganga was one of India’s biggest rescue operations. Under the mission, around 25000 Indian nationals were rescued from Ukraine amid the outbreak of war with Russia. Besides, 147 foreign nationals were also evacuated.
Operation Ganga was launched on 26th February 2022 and lasted until 11th March that year. Several special flights from Poland, Romania, and Hungary were organised to bring the students home.
Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and SpiceJet had also joined the mission, operating multiple flights from Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to Delhi and Mumbai.
The Indian government had sent 4 Union Ministers, namely, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju, and General (Retd) VK Singh to Hungary, Romania and Moldova, Slovakia, and Poland, respectively, to coordinate Operation Ganga.
It must be mentioned that the Ukrainian airspace was closed for civilian aircraft from the day the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out. As such, the Indian embassy in Ukraine had to coordinate with the embassies of neighbouring countries in Poland, Romania, and Hungary to create safe evacuation channels.
Under ‘Operation Ganga’, Indians were first taken in batches from Ukraine to bordering countries via buses/commutes arranged by the embassy. They were then airlifted to Delhi or Mumbai through chartered Air India flights.
Operation Devi Shakti in 2021
Operation Devi Shakti was launched by the Modi government to bring back Indians stranded in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country in 2021. IThe evacuation mission was launched on 16th August than year and lasted until 21st August 2021.
An estimated 800 people were airlifted by the Modi government from Afghnaistan. Apart from Indians, several foreign nationals were also rescued by India during the operation.
The evacuation mission was jointly carried out by the Indian Air Force and the Ministry of External Affairs carried out the operation Devi Shakti.
The Modi government in December 2021 facilitated the evacuation of Sikhs from Afghanistan and brought them to India along with 3 hand-written Swaroop of Shri Guru Granth Sahib.
They were received at the airport by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs V Muraleedharan.
Operation Samudra Setu and Operation Vande Bharat in 2020
The COVID outbreak hit the world in 2020, leading the world to a grinding halt and chaotic situation. A large number of Indians also got stranded abroad. The Modi government launched ‘Operation Samudra Setu’ and ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ to rescue stranded Indians worldwide.
The Navy deployed its ships Jalashwa, Magar, and Airavat, along with Shardul, for this purpose. During this period, the Navy safely brought back 3992 people from different countries.
While flights were suspended worldwide during the COVID, the Modi government, through the ‘Vande Bharat Mission,’ brought back its citizens from more than 100 countries.
In a reply given in Parliament in March 2022, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that it had provided assistance to 2.97 crore people. During this time, Indians were rescued from countries including China, the United States, and Russia.
2019: Modi govt brings back stranded CRPF troops from Libya
With the security situation on the ground rapidly deteriorating in Libya, the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in April 2019 announced that an entire contingent of CRPF troops was removed from the conflict zone. The root of the crisis that continues to plague Libya to this day is the unrest that sparked the Arab Spring in 2011.
The infighting between warring factions had escalated in 2019 with the launch of a military campaign known as the Western Libya campaign, initiated on 4 April 2019 by Operation Flood of Dignity of the Libyan National Army to capture the western region of Libya and eventually the capital Tripoli held by the United Nations Security Council-recognised Government of National Accord.
The Indian government initiated a massive evacuation plan to rescue the marooned people from the country. Later, the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that the evacuation of an entire contingent of CRPF forces was carried out as the situation in Tripoli had worsened.
During this time, some Indians residing in Tripoli were still hesitant to leave everything behind and get rescued from the war-torn country. With more than 500 Indians still in Tripoli, the then EAM Sushma Swaraj requested families and friends of people in Libya’s capital city Tripoli to persuade them to leave immediately amid an emergency.
‘Operation Sankat Mochan’ in 2016
In 2016, a severe conflict erupted in the newest country in the world, South Sudan. The situation escalated into a civil war between the government and rebels. The then-president of South Sudan accused his former ally of rebellion. The country was already grappling with various problems, and the situation worsened. In July 2016, the Modi government announced ‘Operation Sankat Mochan’ to rescue its stranded citizens from the conflict-hit nation.
Under Operation Sankat Mochan, 300 Indians stranded in violence-hit South Sudan were rescued by the Modi government. Additionally, Indian armed forces also rescued other foreign nationals including Nepali citizens.
Again, it was General VK Singh who rose to the occasion and oversaw the execution of the rescue mission while remaining in the Middle-eastern region. The same was widely appreciated by the citizens for his relentless efforts in service of the nation like that of a soldier.
Operation Maitri in 2015
In April 2015, high seismicity earthquakes wreaked havoc in Nepal and some parts of India but given the strained economic and social condition of the Himalayan nation, it needed support and aid from multiple channels.
Acting swiftly, the Modi government announced ‘Operation Maitri’ to give a massive thrust to its rescue and relief mission in quake-devastated Nepal.
India had deployed 12 heavy-duty military aircraft and 18 helicopters. Additionally, the country opened its four land routes to connect to Kathmandu and Pokhara Valley to safeguard men and materials.
In addition to aiding Nepal, India successfully evacuated over 43,000 stranded Indians via land routes by 30th April that year.
The Air Force and Army conducted more than 11,000 evacuation missions, totaling over 2200 sorties, to transport people to safety.
Moreover, Indian forces delivered over 1700 tons of aid supplies during this time. Additionally, Indian forces also conducted numerous rescues of Nepalese citizens.
Operation Raahat in 2015
In April 2015, as fighting raged between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, thousands of Indians got stranded. This prompted the Modi government to launch ‘Operation Rahat’ to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Yemen.
Since Yemen was not accessible by air due to a no-fly zone announced by Saudi Arabia, India chose Djibouti initially as a centre to carry out initial evacuation by sea. The Indian government also sent the then Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs General (Retd) V.K. Singh to oversee operations from the nearest port of Djibouti city.
The operation was launched on 1st April 2015 and ended on 11th April after ensuring the safety of all stranded Indians.
Under Operation Rahat, India rescued about 4,640 Indians stranded in Yemen, along with 960 foreign nationals from more than 41 countries including the US and the UK.
Some of the countries did not have the operational capability to carry out a complex evacuation process so they sought India’s help. India happily obliged and rescued the beleaguered foreign nationals.
The then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had later revealed that PM Modi’s personnel connect in the form of a direct phone call to the Saudi King had facilitated this massive evacuation mission.
2014: Evacuation of Indian nurses from ISIS captivity in Iraq
In June 2014, depressing news trickled in from strife-torn Iraq, where the Islamic State was making rapid territorial gains. The ISIS terrorists had managed to intrude into Tikrit as the Civil War between them and the Iraqi Army escalated. A contingent of Indian nurses was deployed to a hospital in Tikrit to look after the injured and sick. It was just weeks after Narendra Modi had sworn in as the Prime Minister with a very new cabinet.
46 Indian nurses were stranded in the hospital. All except one of the 46 nurses were from Kerala. For days on end, the nurses lived in perpetual fear of being assaulted and executed at the hands of their ISIS captors, who were also known for committing unspeakable atrocities against women and holding them as sex slaves.
Throughout their ordeal, the Indian Embassy in Baghdad steadfastly kept in touch with them on the phone and at times recharged their prepaid cell phones. On June 30, the nurses were ferried to the border by the ISIS terrorists. From their office at the border, another bus was arranged to transport the nurses to the Indian rescue team.
They were then taken to the military office, and then Erbil airport after their documents were verified. The Indian Government had arranged a special flight from Delhi to Erbil to fly the nurses back. After 23 days of traumatic experience, the nurses, unscathed and unharmed, finally boarded the flight on July 5 and returned home.
The then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had maintained a continuous touch with all the major countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It is believed that New Delhi activated informal channels and established peripheral contacts with ISIS, and other splinter groups in Iraq to precipitate the rescue.
Conclusion
Since 2014, the Modi government has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to the safety and well-being of Indian citizens who were stranded abroad during a state of crisis.
It braved wars, natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic and has successfully executed complex evacuation operations. The Modi government has always prioritised bringing Indians home safely.
This prompt action reflects a larger philosophy that the life of every Indian is valuable, irrespective of the nature of the situation in which they are stranded.
During the 12 rescue missions carried out in 11 years of seva, the Modi government used all available assets and diplomatic channels to ensure that every Indian national is protected from harm.
